AUSTIN, Texas — Tesla is getting closer to opening its Austin Gigifactory, which is expected to bring around 10,000 jobs.
Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area CEO Paul Fletcher said he recently took a trip with other area leaders to Gigafactories near Reno, Nevada, and Fremont, California, to learn how we can fill the workforce needs that the factory will bring.
"We wanted to better learn what their operations look like and how they envision those type of operations coming to life in Austin," said Fletcher, "and what we could do to help perpetuate that, get the talent supply chain ready to go to work in a Tesla facility."
He said the facility will bring a lot of different job opportunities. Some will only need a trade certification, while others will need a college degree.
"Probably well over half the positions they'll be hiring for will be people working in the production assembly line," explained Fletcher. "But then there's also maintenance technicians that would be doing the maintenance and programming on the robots that they use to do the real heavy lifting, as material moves through."
Since it is a Gigafactory, production of the Tesla vehicles will all be happening under one roof. But this new plant is expected to create a domino effect of companies moving to the area.
“So we're excited about the opportunities that are going to be existing for people in the area to go to work for Tesla,” said Fletcher. "But then there’s the opportunities that brings for suppliers of Tesla, or just in other areas of advanced manufacturing, maybe not related to Tesla."
Not only does this create jobs for locals, but more people are expected to move to town for these jobs, which means the greater Austin area will continue to boom.
“With more people coming, that creates a need for more housing and a need for more roads. So all of those involve skilled trades,” said Fletcher of the expected job growth in the area
Tesla often takes part in the “Workforce Wednesdays Virtual Career Expo” hiring event offered every week by Workforce Solutions. It also provides many other free trainings and job fairs on its website.
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