Porsche has begun hiring 1,000 new workers as trial body production for the Macan small SUV they will build began at the Leipzig plant, south of Berlin in eastern Germany.
The automaker is looking for skilled employees qualified in body construction, painting, assembly and quality assurance – the jobs are for operators, ultrasonic testers, sheet metal forming and other roles. The recently expanded plant in in Saxony is also hiring 400 more engineers and has already appointed 220.
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“The interest in a job with Porsche is enormous. We have received 16,500 applications already, even though the big search for staff starts officially only today,” Porsche Leipzig chairman Siegfried Bülow said.
The automaker is spending EUR500m to convert the plant – which previously completed painted and trimmed bodies supplied from other factories into a full manufacturing unit with body assembly and paint shops. It’s the biggest construction project in Porsche history.
Bülow added: “The buildings are ready and are waterproof and the machines are being installed. The first test body was made a few days ago. In the summer, we will commission the new paint shop so the first customer vehicle will roll off the assembly line at the end of the year. The schedule is a challenge, and the plant extension a truly mammoth task. But we are going all out for it.”
The recruitment programme will last until the end of 2014. Leipzig has 1,150 workers now but this will be more than doubled.
More on the Macan and its plant
