American automobile giant, Ford, is planning to expand its operations in various cities across the US, as per a company statement. As part of its expansion plans, it will hire over 6000 people in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, where it will invest $3.7 billion by 2026. It will convert about 3,000 gig workers into full-time workers with pay raises and benefits.
Ford requires new hires to help enhance its electric vehicles and roll out two redesigned combustion-engine models. A factory in Avon Lake, Ohio, near Cleveland, will be expanded so it can build an unidentified new electric commercial vehicle. This factory will also create 1,800 new jobs. Ford will also reportedly create around 100 more jobs in Lima and Sharonville, Ohio.
A plant in Claycomo, Missouri, near Kansas City, that makes big electric and combustion-engine transit vans will run a third shift of 1,100 workers to handle increased demand.
In Michigan, Ford plans to add 2,000 jobs at three assembly plants, and another 1,200 at other facilities.
The Company aims to build around two million electric vehicles per year, globally, over the next four years.
Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, the Company’s division that makes internal combustion vehicles, said that these EV investments are needed in part because Ford underestimated demand for EVs.
Ford also pledged to spend $1 billion over the next five years to improve the work experience at its factories. The Company is working with the UAW to determine the needs, which could include better lighting in parking lots for safety and healthier food in the factories.
