DETROIT -
In some good news for the domestic auto industry and potentially other sectors of the economy as well, Ford said Monday that it plans to bring more than 7,000 jobs to the nation’s embattled job market during the next two years.
These new jobs will be spread throughout the U.S. and will include both hourly and salaried positions, according to Ford.
Diving into some specifics, a slew of Ford assembly plants in this country will gain close to 4,000 hourly jobs in 2011.
Among those facilities receiving an influx of jobs is the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky. The plant — which is set to gain 1,800 jobs — is expected to  roll out the all-new Ford Escape toward the end of 2011.
Furthermore, 750 new salaried engineering positions in development and manufacturing will be available this year, as well.
An additional 2,500 manufacturing jobs are planned for 2012, Ford said.
“Ford is committed to American manufacturing, and we are on a path to add more than 7,000 American workers over the next two years as we continue to grow our product lineup,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas.
“Working with our partners, including the UAW, Ford is finding competitive ways to engineer and build even more high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles with technologies American consumers really want,” he added.
Ford is set to begin recruiting engineers Wednesday and Thursday at the industry preview days of the 2011 North American International Auto Show.
The automaker is looking for engineers whose areas of expertise include batteries, system controls, software and energy storage. The engineering positions are slated for nine U.S. cities (Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Milwaukee; Raleigh, N.C.; Durham, N.C.; and San Jose, Calif.) and are expected to deal with electric vehicles.