Toyota's Texas Truck Plant Tops 4,000 Workers, Sets 2029 Start for Tacoma Hiring
The Tundra and Sequoia plant has fully staffed its new axle factory, and hiring for the $3.6 billion line that brings Tacoma production from Mexico begins in 2029.
Toyota's San Antonio truck plant now employs more than 4,000 people directly, and the company has set a date for its next hiring wave: 2029, when it starts staffing the second assembly line that will bring Tacoma production to Texas.
The milestone, announced at the end of October, comes as the campus finishes hiring for its new Rear Axle Unit Plant, which has taken on more than 400 employees. The next step is far bigger. In July, Toyota committed $3.6 billion to more than double the site and pull U.S.-market Tacoma output north from Mexico, a move that matters to anyone shopping the Tacoma against the Ford Ranger.
A campus of nearly 10,000
The 4,000 figure counts only Toyota's own team members. More than 20 suppliers work inside the San Antonio campus and employ another 5,600 people, according to Toyota, putting total on-site headcount above 9,600.
The plant builds the full-size Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV. Its new axle operation is set up to make half a million rear axles a year once it reaches full output, expected in 2027, Texas Public Radio reported after a March tour. About 40% of those axles go to Tundras and Sequoias next door; the remaining 60% feed Tacomas still assembled in Mexico. Starting pay for production roles was put at just over $22 an hour.
Tacoma's move north
The July announcement laid out a second assembly line due to start running in 2030. It will add roughly 150,000 vehicles a year and more than 2,000 jobs, with Tacoma production shifting from the Baja California plant over about four years. Toyota hasn't said what share of U.S.-bound Tacomas will be built in Texas, or whether the hybrid models will move.
That makes the 2029 hiring date the first concrete staffing timeline for the expansion. It also fits a wider pattern of Toyota adding U.S. capacity for high-volume models, including Corolla Hybrid production in Mississippi from 2028. Counting the expansion, Toyota's investment in San Antonio since it broke ground in 2003 reaches $8.3 billion, Manufacturing Dive reported.
$250,000 for local training
Alongside the headcount news, Toyota is giving $250,000 in workforce grants to three South Texas groups. Goodwill San Antonio gets $100,000 for manufacturing boot camps and a reentry pathway for people leaving the justice system. Southwest Independent School District, which serves the neighborhoods around the plant, gets $100,000 for welding equipment and career-tech classes. Project QUEST receives $50,000 for training, coaching and job placement.
The spending targets a familiar bottleneck. Manufacturers and repair shops alike are struggling to find trained hands, as a recent skilled-trades report on auto mechanics showed. Toyota is effectively building its own pipeline three years before the Tacoma line needs it.
"Manufacturing is ultimately about people," said Frank Voss, who runs Toyota's truck manufacturing in North America and heads Toyota Texas.
Toyota hasn't said how many of the promised 2,000-plus Tacoma-line jobs it plans to fill in the first round of 2029 hiring.
