Toyota heads for Texas

By Staff
Feb. 9, 2003
Saying it did not wish to compete with the multibillion dollar Nissan plant in Mississippi for workers, Toyota announced last week it would build its own multibillion dollar automotive manufacturing plant in Texas. While Mississippi was one of three finalists, Toyota seemed to be saying that in the final analysis, Mississippi simply doesn't have the massive numbers of skilled workers necessary to handle the job at two giant auto plants.
And Toyota is right.
Nissan is already having some difficulty finding the initial workers it needs to get its Madison County plant up and running. Nissan's personnel office says it has received more than 61,000 applications, but was hoping for 100,000. The company is extremely selective in its hiring process and will hire only about 4 percent of the workers who apply.
The message in the Toyota decision seems to be, again, that in order to truly compete on a global scale Mississippi needs consistently-funded, sustained workforce training programs that prepare workers for good jobs. If automotive manufacturing is to be a targeted segment, then it would seem that special workforce training programs should be targeted to automotive manufacturing.
Otherwise, Mississippi will be left standing at the altar, watching in envy while other states marry up with the Asian automotive companies which are firmly establishing a presence in the United States.