On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) visited Volvo Car Gent. He saw the training center, was given a tour of the paint shop, and finally took a test drive in a fully electric Volvo. After the visit, he said he was impressed.
“Ten years ago, we wondered whether we would still assemble cars in our country. Today, those car assemblies are stronger than ever. It shows that industrial activity in Belgium has a real future perspective,” De Croo said.
In-house talent
Volvo Car Gent has over 7 000 employees, and 30 to 35 are added weekly. Since the beginning of this year, 500 new people have joined the company. Volvo organizes training for new and existing employees in the Volvo Car Academy.
According to Stefan Fesser, director of the Volvo plant, there’s still a war for talent, and finding suitable candidates is not easy. Still, offering additional training to existing employees makes filling vacancies for particular technical profiles possible. “This way, people who used to do mechanical work can become electrical experts.”
Strong in sustainability
Volvo Car Gent and Audi Vorst are two Belgian car assembly companies producing electric cars. “We are strong in everything related to sustainability, and today, we see it creates many new jobs,” De Croo concluded.
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