Four Hundred Needed in Indiana to Build More Highlanders
Princeton, Indiana plant recruitment drive part of $600-million expansion to increase Highlander production by 40,000 annually.
The Toyota Highlander is the perfect SUV for those who’ve outgrown the RAV4, but don’t quite need or want a 4Runner or Land Cruiser to haul the kids and groceries around. It’s such a safe midsize SUV that both the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration both awarded it their highest ratings, and its bold design guarantees you won’t lose track of it in the parking lot.
The Highlander is also such a big hit that Toyota itself is investing $600 million to expand its plant in Princeton, Indiana to handle the demand. And with increased demand means more jobs. According to Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV-TV, the plant is hiring 400 new employees to help build those Highlanders.
For the lucky 400 who get the opportunity to build the Highlander, they will make $18.95 an hour to start, eventually working up to the top rate of $29 an hour while also gaining much needed experience on the assembly line. According to WRTV-TV, Toyota is putting more energy into hiring women to build the midsize SUV; after all, as CJ Pony Parts notes in one of their infographics, women buy more new cars than men, and usually opt for non-luxury Asian makes like Toyota.
There’s also an incentive for college students looking for work while going to school. Toyota Manufacturing Indiana president Millie Marshall says those who do end up working in Princeton will have enough pay to take care of their tuition and family.
“After two years, you have two years of work that you can put on your resume that’s hard to get, so that is the critical point of getting people into the workforce,” Marshall said. “They actually have the experience right off the bat and do the job.”
According to independent media production company Bader Content Studios, the Princeton plant built over 400,000 Toyotas in 2018, the highest volume produced since the first vehicle — a T-150 — left the line in December of 1998. The plant is the size of 70 football fields, and occupies what was once farmland. You could say the crop production has come a long way from corn and wheat since those days.
Photos: Screenshots
