News of Ford's (F -0.41%) U.S. hiring campaign expectations for 2013 were first announced in January of this year when Ford said it intended to hire 2,200 Americans this year for salaried positions, but it has since revised that figure upward and now expects to bring on as many as 3,000 new salaried employees, the company said today.
The 2013 hiring campaign is Ford's largest initiative of its kind in over a decade, according to Ford's press release, and approximately 80% of the new hires -- 2,400 new Ford employees -- will be "technical professionals who will work in product development, manufacturing, quality, purchasing and information technology." Ford says it is already halfway to its 2013 hiring goal of 3,000.
Ford Group Vice President for Human Resources Felicia Fields commented that "global demand and increasing capacity in North America and Asia requires that we aggressively seek out technical professionals in order to continue our growth." Ford said that with a 2.7% attrition rate, the majority of the jobs are new. Close to 90% will be in Michigan.
In an effort to recruit skilled workers, Ford has also announced a new social media initiative it calls "The Distance Between You and an Amazing Career Has Never Been Shorter." In addition to Ford's corporate careers website, the new social media hiring campaign will employ leading social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, the company announced.
In addition, Ford announced in April that it would be hiring 2,000 hourly employees at a Kansas City assembly plant to help meet demand for its F-150 truck. The company said today that it has reached 75% of its goal to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the U.S. by 2015.
