The car manufacturing employment enters the new year with positive news that Jaguar Land Rover is to expand its Merseyside plant to create 1,500 jobs, as a recent report reveals:

Jaguar Land Rover is planning to double the size of its Merseyside factory and create 1,500 new jobs in a major boost to the Coalition’s drive to rebalance the economy.

An expansion of the plant - one of the biggest car manufacturing facilities in the UK - comes amid growing worries over a slowdown in UK industry and the prospects of a double dip recession in the wider economy.

JLR’s Land Rover plant in Halewood is at full capacity producing the new Range Rover Evoque and growing the factory will allow the company to keep up with surging demand for its products.

Sources familiar with the situation say the company is exploring plans to double the size of the plant by developing on surrounding land. This will represent an investment of around £100m, although the proposals are thought to be at a relatively early stage.
(more…)

The employment status is looking very promising within the engineering sector as Honda creates 500 new jobs at its Swindon plant, as the article below reveals:

The Japanese manufacturer said operations were returning to normal in the UK after production of the new Civic model was delayed by a month following the floods in Thailand.

Parts shortages caused by the March earthquake in Japan had also affected production but the company said it had “turned a corner” and expected to make about 180,000 vehicles in 2012.

(more…)