700 additional jobs required at Stellantis-LG Windsor EV battery plant
The announcement of a new Stellantis-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor in March promised 2,500 jobs, but the company is already tacking on more positions based on operational needs, according to local economic development officials.
During a talent strategy meeting Thursday between Invest Windsor-Essex (IWE) and the Stellantis-LG joint venture, the company informed local officials it is adjusting the number of workers required at the battery plant to 3,200, according to IWE CEO Stephen MacKenzie.
Now, the focus turns to pulling off a talent strategy that IWE has been developing with the company.
“If economic development is a vehicle, a car, the fuel is the talent and if you don’t have the fuel, the car doesn’t go,” says MacKenzie.
He says the strategy is multi-pronged, but focuses on retention of talent as well as attraction from abroad.
Locally, it includes revisions to existing programs and the addition of news ones at both St. Clair College and the University of Windsor. The focus for existing workers will be up-skilling through the introduction of fast-tracked micro-credentials, which can be completed in six weeks to 18 months — with the goal of training the electric vehicle workforce of the future.
“The generational investment like this, I’ve been telling people if you have kids or grandkids, they’re going to have the opportunity to stay and work here if they decide to do that,” MacKenzie says.
Global talent attraction will also be necessary, starting in our backyard.
MacKenzie says people already in the workforce but working stateside may want to come work here instead of commuting across the Detroit River.
“You often hear about reshoring of industry, maybe we’re going to be looking at reshoring people,” he says.
It will also mean attracting students at an earlier age, starting with high schoolers.
“We’ve got a big job to do to convince young people in Canada this is a really, really attractive and impactful sector to work in,” says Jayson Myers, who heads up Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, a supercluster based out of Waterloo.
“Let’s look beyond the issue about the technical skills,” he says. “Let’s look at attracting young people into an industry that is really going to make a difference for them and I think that’s what appeals to young people.”
Stellantis and LG are in the process of hiring a human resources manager who will work with Invest Windsor-Essex to identify specific skills needs for the EV battery plant.
Invest Windsor-Essex will also be meeting with the company every two weeks until the ribbon cutting at the factory to ensure talent needs are being met.
“They’re going to start hiring in certain categories by the first quarter of 2023 and ramping up to production in August of 2024,” says Joe Goncalves, the director of investment attraction and corporate marketing at Invest Windsor-Essex.
Skilled talent shortages are well documented and are considered by many to be a global problem.
With the spin-off jobs anticipated from the battery plant, MacKenzie says collaboration between industry, educational institutions, government and potential workers will be paramount.
”This could be a 14-16,000 job deal,” he says. “It’s not just going to happen. We have to work it, have a strategy to make sure that we deliver and it’s a win-win for everybody.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Police investigating sudden death of 2-year-old boy in Cambridge, Ont.
Police say a toddler in Cambridge, Ont., who was reported missing early Monday morning, has since died.
Number of CRA employees fired for inappropriately claiming CERB approaches 300
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has provided new data on the number of employees who were found to have received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
House Speaker asks MPs to behave better in question period after incident
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus says he expects members of Parliament to behave better than they did last week, when an exchange between two party leaders got so heated one MP thought it may actually come to physical blows.
Lebanon sees deadliest day of conflict since 2006 as Israeli strikes kill more than 350
Israeli strikes on Lebanon Monday killed more than 350 people, including more than 60 women and children, Lebanese authorities said, in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Missing six-year-old boy in Manitoba found dead: RCMP
It was a tragic ending to the search for a six-year-old boy in northeastern Manitoba who had been missing since Wednesday.
Thousands of bones and hundreds of weapons reveal grisly insights into a 3,250-year-old battle
A new analysis of dozens of arrowheads is helping researchers piece together a clearer portrait of the warriors who clashed on Europe’s oldest known battlefield 3,250 years ago.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland reveals dementia diagnosis, will soon play final Canadian show
Beverly Glenn-Copeland says he's been diagnosed with dementia and will play his final concert tour dates over the next two weeks.
'Quite alarming': U.S. student says Vancouver housing unit subdivided with cardboard wall
A U.S. family whose son is pursuing an education in Vancouver is speaking out following their 'quite alarming' experience with a housing site.
Malaysian police rescue 187 more children as sex abuse probe of Islamic group deepens
Malaysian police said Monday they have rescued 187 more children and raided locations nationwide linked to an Islamic business group that is being investigated for alleged sexual assault of children.