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Battery opportunities coming |
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Date: 2012-09-05 |
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Michigan's advanced battery
industry is reaching critical
mass on both sides of the state
with plenty of job
opportunities.
But job seekers need engineering
degrees and experience for more
technical jobs or a
manufacturing or skilled trades
background for production work,
according to executives and
human resource managers.
"We see our work force in
Michigan expanding to between
2,000 and 3,000 over the next
several years," said Jason
Forcier, vice president for A123
Systems automotive solutions
group in Livonia.
Other major players include JCI
Saft and LG Chem ！ both in
Holland ！ General Motors' own
battery plant in Brownstown
Township; Dow Kokam in Midland,
Magna E-Car and ALTe ！ both in
Auburn Hills ！ Azure Dynamics in
Oak Park and SB LiMotive in
Orion Township.
Except for A123, whose Michigan
payroll is about 400, most of
these operations range from a
couple dozen to 100 or so
employees, but growth is nearly
assured with higher fuel economy
requirements and higher gas
prices.
"We anticipate most of the labor
force will come from
southeastern Michigan," said
Jeff DeFrank, chief technology
officer and co-founder of ALTe.
Walk around a lithium-ion
battery plant and it's easy to
conclude the nation would need
thousands of these operations to
offset more than a fraction of
the nearly 5 million American
jobs that disappeared between
September 2008 and April 2009.
There's more automation than
people. Batteries and the packs
into which workers and robots
package them are not very large.
You also don't see the sleekly
sculpted body panels that give
cars and trucks their sex
appeal.
Still, the jobs are coming. The
numbers may be incremental. A
quick survey of about a dozen
Michigan battery companies found
that together their headcounts
may be somewhere between 1,500
and 2,000. That does not include
people within the major
automakers who are primarily
assigned to alternative
powertrain development. For
example, GM plans to hire 1,000
electric-vehicle engineers and
researchers in Michigan over the
next two years.
Those in the fledgling battery
industry expect growth because
they are supplying vehicles that
automakers have already ordered.
This is not like building
speculative McMansions in hopes
that banks will lend to anyone
with a pulse.
Analysts can debate the rate at
which Americans will adapt to
plugging in rather than filling
up, but keep this in mind:
Automakers must boost the
average fuel economy of their
fleets to 35.5 m.p.g. by 2016.
Today, with Michigan's
unemployment rate at 11.7%,
applicants outnumber openings.
But the skill sets needed are
here.
"Fifty percent of our staff was
unemployed when we hired them,
but nearly all had previous
experience in the auto
industry," said Jason Forcier,
vice president of A123 Systems
automotive solutions group. The
Watertown, Mass.-based company
now has 400 people producing
battery packs and coating
electrodes in Livonia and
Romulus. Another 50 highly
skilled engineers are conducting
advanced research in Ann Arbor.
Pay for engineering jobs will be
competitive with what Tier 1
automotive suppliers pay.
Production jobs will be
commensurate with what other
parts manufacturers pay. For
example, JCI's partner Saft is
paying production workers
between $15 and $18 an hour at a
similar plant in Jacksonville,
Fla. Maintenance technicians are
paid between $19 and $22 an
hour.
Magna E-Car Systems, a joint
venture between Magna and its
chairman Frank Stronach, now has
about 200 mostly engineers in
Auburn Hills. They are working
primarily on testing and
validation of the Ford Focus
EV's train, said Ted Robertson,
president of the joint venture.
"We're looking for all varieties
of engineers ！ powertrain,
electrical, thermal, vehicle
integration, validation and
battery experts, as well as
chemists and testing
technicians," Robertson said. |
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[Next News]:
EV Battery Demand Dwarfs
Capacity... |
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