Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel expects its largest hiring surge for its $5.8 billion Ascension Parish steel mill to come in 2028, when the company plans to add hundreds of production workers and grow its workforce to about 1,000 employees.
HPLS plans to bring on between 230 and 300 employees by the end of 2027 before accelerating hiring the following year, company officials tell Ascension Business Report in an email. Several hundred additional employees are expected to join the company before the Donaldsonville-area facility begins production in 2029.
The new timeline provides a clearer picture of how HPLS intends to build the workforce for the massive steel mill planned at the RiverPlex MegaPark.
“The biggest hiring wave will be in 2028, when we’ll start adding production employees,” HPLS said in an email. “We plan to have about 1,000 employees on board by the end of that year.”
HPLS recently began recruiting for nearly 40 positions across engineering, construction, infrastructure, materials management and other fields. The company listed 37 positions through Louisiana Economic Development’s FastStart program when it announced the openings last week.
The company ultimately expects to employ roughly 1,400 people at the facility, with most working in production. About one-quarter of the workforce, or roughly 350 employees based on the current projection, is expected to work in engineering, supply chain, maintenance, logistics and administrative areas such as human resources, talent development and accounting.
HPLS is placing a particular emphasis on developing a local pipeline to fill those jobs. However, the company did not specify how many employees it expects to recruit from Ascension Parish or elsewhere in Louisiana.
The company is working with local schools, colleges and universities on workforce programs intended to prepare students and existing workers for the mill. Those efforts include dual-enrollment programs that allow high school students to gain process technology experience, along with specialized millwright, electrical, and instrumentation certifications and degree programs through River Parishes Community College. HPLS also plans on-site externships for high school and college students and internships for college students.
The RPCC-Hyundai Training Center now under construction will train residents of the Westbank and all of Ascension Parish for careers at Hyundai Steel and other industries throughout the River Region. It is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2028.
“The goal is that by 2029, we’ll have as much local talent as possible on our team,” the company says.
HPLS held a ceremonial groundbreaking on the steel mill near Donaldsonville in September. Construction cannot begin until the project receives an air permit. The facility is expected to produce automotive steel using electric arc furnace technology and supply Hyundai’s U.S. vehicle manufacturing operations.
