Now hiring: Volvo planning to add 1,200 employees

By Andrew Ganz

Tuesday, Mar 29th, 2011 @ 1:44 p.m.

Volvo Cars says it plans to recruit 1,200 workers to build enough cars to fit in its future product plan. The Swedish automaker, recently acquired by China’s Geely Holding Group, says that the hiring will be for both its engineering facilities, home office and assembly plants in Sweden and Belgium.

“We need to expand our operations to enable development of the highly competitive and fuel efficient products and technologies that are part of our growth plan,” CEO Stefan Jacoby said in a statement released to members of the media.

Volvo says that 900 engineers will be hired to work in research and development in Sweden to create a new vehicle architecture that will eventually underpin electric cars. In addition, Volvo is hiring purchasing, IT and marketing workers.

In addition, the automaker says that it will also increase its staff at its Ghent, Belgium, assembly plant, which is expected to hit a new production record this year.

Volvo currently employees just short of 20,000 worldwide, a figure down from 2008 when it was owned by Ford Motor Company. During the last couple of years of Ford’s ownership, Volvo sliced its staff by about 6,000 workers in response to slackening global demand.