Rivian launches technical trade program apprenticeship to train future Georgia plant staff

[DuoRivians]

Updated with program Technical Trade Program details:

https://www.ajc.com/news/rivian-lau...orgia-plant-staff/UNKL4UBKHZBHBJPECVACYBSNQY/

Rivian launches apprenticeship to train future Georgia plant staff

Electric vehicle maker Rivian is launching a new apprenticeship program to train staff to work at the massive new factory it is building near Rutledge, an hour east of Atlanta.

The program announced Friday will put an initial group of recruits through 24 months of intensive training.

Trainees will attend local Georgia community colleges for the first six months of the program, before traveling to Rivian’s existing plant in Normal, Illinois, to complete another 12-18 months of on-the-job training. The company did not say how many apprentices it would accept in the program’s inaugural class.

Tuition for enrollees will be covered by Georgia’s HOPE career grants program, but Rivian will pick up the tab for any textbooks, materials and other “incremental expenses.” Participants will also be paid as maintenance technicians by Rivian while in the program, and once they have graduated, they will relocate to Georgia to work at the company’s forthcoming EV factory.

Rivian said last week that it will break ground on its Georgia plant early next year and begin production in 2026. The company has said it will employ 7,500 workers at the new factory, which will exclusively produce the company’s forthcoming crossover, known as the R2.

“We’re excited to launch this apprenticeship program as an important milestone toward launching our R2 manufacturing plant in Georgia,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “Critical for the launch of this facility is to establish a pipeline of talent that will help us to hit the ground running once the facility is operational.”

Lt. Governor Burt Jones also cheered the company’s announcement.

“I think it is important for the state to partner with companies like Rivian to create critical job opportunities through initiatives like the apprenticeship program,” Jones said in a statement.

Cox Enterprises, the parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, owns about a 4% stake in Rivian.

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[DuoRivians]

Personally, I’m a big fan of more early career opportunities/take off points beyond the 4 year college route. Glad to see Rivian providing a tangible path for many in Georgia.

 

[ATL_R1S]

?

 

[DuoRivian]

Great news and they have been doing something similar at the Normal plant and the Heartland community college. Wished more US companies would do this.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I think apprenticeships are a great way to learn. We as a country need to do more of them and consider them on par with traditional universities. Then again I'm biased as I completed an apprenticeship.

 

[Greg Chick]

https://www.ajc.com/news/rivian-lau...orgia-plant-staff/UNKL4UBKHZBHBJPECVACYBSNQY/

Rivian launches apprenticeship to train future Georgia plant staff

Electric vehicle maker Rivian is launching a new apprenticeship program to train staff to work at the massive new factory it is building near Rutledge, an hour east of Atlanta.

The program announced Friday will put an initial group of recruits through 24 months of intensive training.

Trainees will attend local Georgia community colleges for the first six months of the program, before traveling to Rivian’s existing plant in Normal, Illinois, to complete another 12-18 months of on-the-job training. The company did not say how many apprentices it would accept in the program’s inaugural class.

Tuition for enrollees will be covered by Georgia’s HOPE career grants program, but Rivian will pick up the tab for any textbooks, materials and other “incremental expenses.” Participants will also be paid as maintenance technicians by Rivian while in the program, and once they have graduated, they will relocate to Georgia to work at the company’s forthcoming EV factory.

Rivian said last week that it will break ground on its Georgia plant early next year and begin production in 2026. The company has said it will employ 7,500 workers at the new factory, which will exclusively produce the company’s forthcoming crossover, known as the R2.

“We’re excited to launch this apprenticeship program as an important milestone toward launching our R2 manufacturing plant in Georgia,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “Critical for the launch of this facility is to establish a pipeline of talent that will help us to hit the ground running once the facility is operational.”

Lt. Governor Burt Jones also cheered the company’s announcement.

“I think it is important for the state to partner with companies like Rivian to create critical job opportunities through initiatives like the apprenticeship program,” Jones said in a statement.

Cox Enterprises, the parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, owns about a 4% stake in Rivian.

24 months! I thought "Launching" was 0 to 60 in 3 sec.?

 

[moosetags]

This is a great idea. This should be done by all of the manufacturing companies. These are the people that we will need in the future. We have too many young people today that have college degrees and no career.

Brian

 

[DuoRivians]

Follow up in case anyone knows someone who’s interested in program:

 

[HaveBlue]

Somebody who said he worked at the normal plant posted this. I looked him up and his profile said tig welder. I know, it's the Facebook brigade but I was still shocked. Maybe just disgruntled. Who took delivery at normal? Did you get a tour?

 

[Iwannarivian]

Updated with program Technical Trade Program details:

https://www.ajc.com/news/rivian-lau...orgia-plant-staff/UNKL4UBKHZBHBJPECVACYBSNQY/

Rivian launches apprenticeship to train future Georgia plant staff

Electric vehicle maker Rivian is launching a new apprenticeship program to train staff to work at the massive new factory it is building near Rutledge, an hour east of Atlanta.

The program announced Friday will put an initial group of recruits through 24 months of intensive training.

Trainees will attend local Georgia community colleges for the first six months of the program, before traveling to Rivian’s existing plant in Normal, Illinois, to complete another 12-18 months of on-the-job training. The company did not say how many apprentices it would accept in the program’s inaugural class.

Tuition for enrollees will be covered by Georgia’s HOPE career grants program, but Rivian will pick up the tab for any textbooks, materials and other “incremental expenses.” Participants will also be paid as maintenance technicians by Rivian while in the program, and once they have graduated, they will relocate to Georgia to work at the company’s forthcoming EV factory.

Rivian said last week that it will break ground on its Georgia plant early next year and begin production in 2026. The company has said it will employ 7,500 workers at the new factory, which will exclusively produce the company’s forthcoming crossover, known as the R2.

“We’re excited to launch this apprenticeship program as an important milestone toward launching our R2 manufacturing plant in Georgia,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “Critical for the launch of this facility is to establish a pipeline of talent that will help us to hit the ground running once the facility is operational.”

Lt. Governor Burt Jones also cheered the company’s announcement.

“I think it is important for the state to partner with companies like Rivian to create critical job opportunities through initiatives like the apprenticeship program,” Jones said in a statement.

Cox Enterprises, the parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, owns about a 4% stake in Rivian.

$20-25 an hour??? my son makes that at Starbucks making coffees…guess that’s as technically challenging as part manufacturing!??

 

[Zoidz]

$20-25 an hour??? my son makes that at Starbucks making coffees…guess that’s as technically challenging as part manufacturing!??

Your son makes $20 an hour plus benefits going to Starbucks school?

Typically jobs like this start at around $25 an hour with benefits. Those that prove themselves pretty quickly (2 - 3 years) get increases and can be at $50k - $60k. I have techs working for me with 10 years experience making $75k- $90k, and some as high as $120k with OT and travel compensation. I don't know any baristas making that kind of money.

 

[Zoidz]

Somebody who said he worked at the normal plant posted this. I looked him up and his profile said tig welder. I know, it's the Facebook brigade but I was still shocked. Maybe just disgruntled. Who took delivery at normal? Did you get a tour?

meh.... post like that are hard to figure out. First off, he was a contractor, and they typically have limited insight into the company. Full of felons IMO is a biased comment. I've got an employee who did some stupid things 15 years ago, did the time as a felon, but now he is a model employee who goes above and beyond what we ask him to do.

Unlikely that "the majority of the actual team members are high on drugs". That does not jive with national data.

 

[Dark-Fx]

$20-25 an hour??? my son makes that at Starbucks making coffees…guess that’s as technically challenging as part manufacturing!??

Guessing you don't have any experience with automotive assembly, but it's hardly a job that requires skill outside of recognizing problems that could turn into quality issues. Anyone who can follow basic instructions is qualified.

Also guessing your son lives in a high cost of living area. I wouldn't say the places Rivian has plants qualify there.

 

[COdogman]

Places like Starbucks and Target have high starting wages (for hourly jobs) and decent benefits because they have a hell of a time keeping employees for any amount of time. And if one lives in a place with a high cost of living it might be one of the only entry level jobs that can provide enough income to pay your bills (barely).

We lose some employees to these places because we can’t start people that high, but if they stick around and prove themselves they will be doing better than that with us. Those places don’t give many raises after that initial entry point. We actually get more people trying to leave those places than the other way around.

I imagine Normal is a similar situation and I’ve read that one of the challenges Rivian has is the area was not full of people trained to work in an automotive factory like Detroit and other locations. So they were essentially starting from scratch in Illinois.

 

[BlueMars]

getting paid while going to college for free? it can not be any better than that. US is really short of labor, damn.

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