Foxconn says it will create thousands of jobs at surprisingly good wages

The thousands of jobs that Foxconn says it will create when it opens a massive manufacturing plant in southeast Wisconsin are projected to have an average annual salary of $53,875 plus benefits — lucrative enough to attract workers from across the state and nation.

It’s an impressive figure from a company once derided as operating virtual sweatshops in China, but not unexpected as manufacturing wages have risen with the demand for more-advanced technical skills, said Patrick O’Brien, executive director of the economic development organization Milwaukee 7.

“It’s good for the region,” O’Brien said.

In announcing Wednesday that it would be building a $10 billion flat-panel display factory in southeastern Wisconsin, Taiwan-based Foxconn said it would hire 3,000 people when the plant starts up initially, and 13,000 when it is fully operational. 

In addition, the project will lead to another 22,000 indirect positions at suppliers and other employers, along with 10,000 construction jobs over each of the next four years, and 6,000 indirect jobs from the construction, according to estimates from the company and state. The plant is expected to be completed in 2020.

Foxconn says it will make $4.26 billion in supplier purchases annually, about one-third of them within Wisconsin.

“They can’t afford to have a disruption in their supply chain. It all has to work well,” said Doug Fisher, who teaches supply-chain management classes at Marquette University.

Other employers in the area, already struggling to fill job openings, could feel the pressure from Foxconn's hiring thousands of people at an attractive wage.

“That happens all of the time when a new company comes into an area. It’s part of doing business,” Fisher said. "If I were a young person, I would hope that it puts pressure on wages, but Foxconn is no dummy. I would doubt that they're going into this assuming that they will triple wages in the area."

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On the same day that Foxconn made its announcement, retail giant Amazon said it has plans of its own to hire 50,000 people at its U.S. fulfillment centers, including a sprawling facility in Kenosha that's not far from sites that Foxconn is considering.

Amazon would not say how many jobs it was seeking to fill in Kenosha. It will open the doors to job seekers on Aug. 2 at the Kenosha facility as well as nearly a dozen other sites across its U.S. network.

Full-time jobs at Amazon in Kenosha have a starting pay range of $12.25 to $13.25 per hour plus health care insurance and other benefits, according to the company's website. Part-time positions start at $11.75 an hour. Most of the Amazon jobs will be full-time, the company said.

The two announcements come at a time when the labor market in southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and the United States overall is growing tight and the competition for potential hires promises to be intense.

Kenosha County's unemployment rate is 3.3%, and in nearby Racine County it is 3.4%. In Lake County, Ill., just south of the Wisconsin border, it is 4%.

Even as the number of manufacturing jobs across Wisconsin has fallen, many companies say they’re having a hard time filling positions that increasingly call for advanced skills.

Foxconn will “have its hands full” trying to find thousands of employees, said Gus Ramirez, executive chairman of Husco International, a Waukesha manufacturer of automotive industry components.

“I think it’s fabulous for Wisconsin. The job growth and the byproducts of having that sort of business here … is just fabulous,” Ramirez said.

Area technical colleges say they’re prepared to partner with Foxconn to offer training specific to the company’s needs.

“This is a game-changer,” said Bryan Albrecht, president of Gateway Technical College in Kenosha. “Companies like Foxconn help generate an entirely new vision for the type of training that’s necessary to keep our students competitive on a global scale.

“We know that we can meet the needs of any global employer that locates here,” he added. "A company like Foxconn draws talent from all over the world. I think there's an opportunity to create a high-end, technology-driven economy for the entire state."

Milwaukee Area Technical College says it’s also ready to offer worker training, as it has done for other large employers in the area.

“We have an entire area of the college devoted to specialized and customized training,” said MATC President Vicki Martin.

Labor unions, who have seen thousands of jobs disappear from Milwaukee-area manufacturers such as Caterpillar and Joy Global in recent years, were glad to hear that new manufacturing jobs are to be created in the region.

A Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha closed in 2010, ending jobs for the last 500 workers at a facility that once employed some 14,000 people.

"Kenosha and Racine have been beaten up for a long time," said Ross Winklbauer, a United Steelworkers union sub-district director in West Allis. 

“Thousands of jobs are good for the state, no doubt about it, as long as they’re decent-paying jobs,” Winklbauer said.

Joe Taschler and Andres Guerra Luz of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.