Pasadena, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/22/2011 -- U.S. automakers are expected to hire around 36,000 workers by 2015 to cope with increasing demand. The estimate comes from Sean McAlinden, the chief economist of Center for Automotive Research.

General Motors announced that it was going to invest $100 million in its Rochester plant which makes auto parts. The plant will now make a new fuel injection product line. This will not only save existing jobs in the plant but also add around 30 hourly jobs. At present, the plant employs 826 people.

The Rochester plant was one of the locations were GM had applied its two-tier system. The plant was saved from being closed because the workers there were paid the second-tier wage. Under the two-tier system agreed to by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Big 3 automakers, new hires earned around $14 per hour, which was half the rate paid to senior production workers.

The UAW is now saying that workers must be compensated for the concessions they made in 2005 by agreeing to the two-tier system. The UAW also saw its membership rise last year to over 376,000, an increase of six percent.

The auto industry is increasing turning towards becoming a place for well-skilled employees. David Cole, who is chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research says that “There’s no factory jobs for high school dropouts.” The point that he and other industry experts are making is that today, most new assembly line workers are required to have at least a two-year associate’s degree. AutomotiveCrossing, a job aggregator site for the auto industry, has been able to find over 17,000 jobs across the country.