Volkswagen’s St. Thomas plant: thousands of jobs coming

The Volkswagen EV plant in St. Thomas is hiring for hundreds of job positions. CTV London’s Sean Irvine has the details.

It is “full steam ahead” for the biggest automotive facility southwestern Ontario, and the nation, has seen for decades.

Volkswagen subsidiary PowerCo. Canada has begun ramping up hiring for its $7-billion plant in St. Thomas, Ont.

“I think the answer at the moment is thousands of jobs,” said Norman Wickboldt, the firm’s chief human resources officer, in an interview with CTV London.

When announced in 2023, the PowerCo. facility was predicted to employ 3,000 people and create 30,000 spinoff jobs.

The up to 185,000-square-metre, or two-million-square-foot, plant is set to open in 2027.

Site infrastructure is nearing completion, and a groundbreaking for phase one construction is now only weeks away.

But just how fast the plant expands and the size of its workforce is unknown. Wickboldt acknowledged the unpredictability of U.S. tariffs and trade discussions.

“We are monitoring the trade topic very closely,” he confirmed. “It then depends on the demand of the Volkswagen Group and how many of those blocks we will initially build and what final capacity looks like. But, for the next couple of years, our message is full steam ahead, because that’s what we really want to achieve, the start of production here in St. Thomas.”

To meet its goal, PowerCo. has begun a marketing campaign to attract specialized talent, including chemists and IT professionals.

In the coming weeks, the company will launch a new jobs website for front-line workers.

Wickboldt said initial hires will be trained at a purpose-built local training facility.

“We’re also working very closely with our education partners here, in the community. And, we will also send them [new hires] to our other plants, mainly to Germany, because they are just ahead of us.”

The majority of hiring is expected to take place throughout 2026.

“So, the big wave would start next year, and then you would see the growth into the years to come, until we ramp up to full capacity.”

A large, skilled workforce was a major reason Volkswagen selected southwestern Ontario as the site for the massive PowerCo facility.

At the 2023 rollout, attended by then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, PowerCo. CEO Frank Blome stated, “It is important that we get the right workforce here. We think this is the case.”

Asked if Blome’s vision has been met two years on, Wickboldt said, “I’m surprised by the level of qualification that we find. It may not all be in the vicinity of St. Thomas, but we’re also targeting other regions, including Windsor, obviously, but also the GTA region and the west coast.”

PowerCo. has already hired more than 200 people. Most work in a temporary office building near downtown St. Thomas.

Wickboldt indicated that all are looking forward to the ground-breaking ceremony.

“The foundations are the next focus for our first production building. And then, the other big milestone this year is steel construction. So, we want to get as far ahead with overall steel construction.”

Once the initial phase is complete, production is expected to begin, Wickbolt said. “I think our commitment is to start production in 2027. So, we need to see how good we progress on our construction timeline now, whether it’s mid-year or the third quarter, I can’t tell you, but we are definitely aiming for sooner rather than later in 2027.”

More than 40 jobs are already posted at PowerCo.ca.