Mazda Toyota is raising salaries and offering new incentives in its ongoing effort to meet its obligations of hiring 4,000 at its one-of-a-kind automotive plant in Huntsville.

The joint venture between Japanese automaker powers has about 3,700 people on payroll, the company said this week – putting it at about 92 percent of its hiring requirements under deals struck with the city of Huntsville and the state of Alabama.

Mazda Toyota indicated in a press release last summer that it intended to be at 4,000 employees by the end of 2022. But hiring numbers have remained flat for at least eight months. In June 2022, Mazda Toyota had about 3,700 employees, according to Janette Hostettler, senior vice president of production at Mazda Toyota. In December 2022, Mazda Toyota Vice President Mark Brazeal told The Lede that the company had “more than 3,700 team members.” And last week, a company spokesperson said there were “approximately 3,700 team members.”

A challenge is that Mazda Toyota is seeking to hire about 300 new employees at a time when unemployment rates are near historic lows in north Alabama. The plant is located in Limestone County, which had a 1.8 percent unemployment rate in December, according to the Alabama Department of Labor. Neighboring Madison County – the largest population base in north Alabama – is also at 1.8 percent. Only one county in the immediate area of the plant, Colbert, has an unemployment rate higher than the state average of 2.3 percent while three counties are at 1.7 percent or lower.

A 2019 market analysis of the Huntsville area – conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic — warned of a workforce crunch with the number of jobs projected to outstrip the labor pool.

Mazda Toyota is making a new hiring push – running a television ad during the Feb. 12 Super Bowl and upping salaries. Mazda Toyota also announced the higher salaries and new incentives in social media ads on the AIDT Facebook page. AIDT is a division of the Alabama Department of Commerce focused on recruiting and training to help build workforce numbers for industries across the state.

The company said in an email that the latest hiring push is to begin a second shift on the Mazda production line by the middle of the year. Toyota began its second shift in July 2022.

Mazda Toyota did not make any officials available to discuss its hiring strategies.

The latest salary increases, according to the AIDT ads, reflect pay going up 9 percent for production team members from $18.35 per hour to $20 per hour. Employees can also receive a $1.30 hourly increase when rotating on the evening shift. Production team members can top out at $26.20 per hour over a four-year grow-in period.

Mazda Toyota first announced a pay raise for production team members in December 2021 – bumping salaries from $17 per hour to $18.35 with top salaries at $25 per hour.

For facilities maintenance team members, pay ranges from $27.60 to $38.50 per hour, according to the AIDT ads. For those jobs, the company is offering $10,000 in relocation assistance for those moving from at least 75 miles away from the plant to within at least 50 miles. There is also a $3,500 sign-on bonus that will be fully paid after four months.

So far, Mazda Toyota has rolled 125,000 vehicles off its production line since production began on the Toyota Corolla Cross in September 2021 and the Mazda CX-50 in January 2022. At full power, Mazda Toyota will have the capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles annually.

Those interested in learning more about jobs at Mazda Toyota can visit the company’s website. Job applications can also be accessed on the website.