Back to School with Firestone

American tyre plant employees at factories struggling to remain globally competitive are finding themselves back in the classroom. The Bridgestone Firestone tyre facility in Wilson, North Carolina is requiring potential and some existing employees to participate in “Introduction to Tire Manufacturing” classes at a nearby technical college.

Students pay US$117 to attend the class – six hours a week for six weeks – and for the course workbook. Most applicants must complete the course before the company will even interview them, Firestone reimbursing the $67 tuition of those students it chooses to hire.

The reason for this new emphasis on training lies in the Wilson plant’s struggle to maintain competitive. The average worker at the facility makes US$37 an hour, while competitor facilities in China pay their employees less than a dollar for every hour worked. To remain competitive the Wilson plant, like many tyre making facilities in the US, has needed to specialise in high-end tyres, and the new equipment required to make these tyres needs qualified staff to operate them. The new training courses are designed to weed out those people the company deems unsuitable even before the interview process begins.

According to Theresa Peaden, the technical college’s director of continuing education, about 30 per cent of the course curriculum focuses on tyre making, while the rest is spent teaching communication, safety, maths and measurement skills.