College of the Sequoias to train new Faraday Future employees in Hanford

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Faraday Future would like to get their first electric car on the market and on the road as soon as possible.

They are hiring hundreds of employees to work at their Hanford factory.

They plan to have some of them train at College of the Sequoias in Hanford later this month before they even begin their new jobs.

"So this is going to be stuff like safety, quality management, tools, and processes," said COS Training Resource Specialist Laurel Garver. "And we're excited to have secured our director of the training resource center, Jorge Zegarra, to teach that class. He's got a great background and we're confident that the Faraday Future employees will learn a lot from this training."

Starting August 20th, the COS' Training Resource Center will offer the 40-hour training will to 20 to 25 Faraday employees.

The training is subsidized by the state's Employment Training Panel, o ETP, which last year, awarded college of the sequoias $150,000 to provide customized short-term training to local companies.

In addition to the technical skills offered, the new Faraday employees will also learn important life skills, such as conflict-resolution and time-management.

"Most people lose their first job not because they don't know the technical skills, it's because they're not able to relate with others and have those soft skills," said COS Workforce Development Trainer Heather Bixler. "And so we're going to be able to give that to those employees and keep them successful here in the Valley."

COS officials say they see Faraday as a forward-thinking company, invested in their future employees.

They think more Central Valley businesses could benefit from training they say is proven to reduce turnover and increase retention.

"It ultimately saves on their bottom line," Garver said. "You're increasing productivity, you're increasing employee morale, and that's something we want to be a part of."

COS' Training Resource Center says they'd like to partner with more local businesses using funding from ETP.

If you would like to learn more about the ETP training cost reimbursement program, please contact the Training Resource Center at 559.688.3130 or trainingcenter@cos.edu.