Ohio Jeep plant hiring part-time workers

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Chrysler plans to hire up to 1,000 part-time employees to give exhausted full-time workers a break at its Toledo Jeep assembly plant.

Record demand for the Jeep Wrangler and launch of the new Jeep Cherokee last year is driving the move to spell full-time employees who are regularly working 60 hours a week, The Blade newspaper of Toledo reported.

“Our people have been working a tremendous amount of hours,” plant manager Chuck Padden said. “To get them more time off is important to us, to make sure they’re refreshed, and can work safely.”

A company spokesman said Monday that Chrysler has hired 380 temporary part-time employees this year, though 50 have been converted to regular, full-time employees. Chrysler has collected applications for all the jobs and is in the process of assessing them.