The BMW Group is set to take on some 3,500 new associates this year, around half of whom will be based in Germany. Some 1,800 new staff will join the company by the end of 2011, mainly working at its headquarters and in development. Another 1,700 will take up new jobs in BMW Group facilities abroad.

“We need new associates to help us meet the consistently strong demand that has developed for our vehicles and to offset natural wastage within the company,” says Harald Krüger, BMW AG Board Member for Personnel. “In addition, as we prepare for the future, we are focusing on taking on specialists and engineers who will work in future technologies.” As well as seeking specialists in the fields of electrical engineering and lightweight body construction, the BMW Group is recruiting IT specialists and software engineers, Krüger explained ahead of the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA), which starts on 15 September.

BMW Group locations around the world require qualified specialists and university graduates from a wide range of subject areas. “We offer highly attractive programmes for young people wanting to train with us and good opportunities for those wishing to become employees directly,” Krüger explained. Some 1,200 new recruits will take up their jobs in Munich, where the BMW Group has not only its headquarters but also its main plant and most of its development. Another recruitment hotspot will be BMW Plant Leipzig, where production of its first all-electric series vehicle, the BMW i3, is set to begin in 2013.

As well as taking on 3,500 new members of staff, the BMW Group is once again welcoming a large number of trainees this year. In Germany alone, 1,089 young people are starting their training with the BMW Group.

[Source: BMW ]