Nissan relocation would likely bring job openings

“When a headquarters comes in, particularly that large a headquarters, not everybody is going to be a C-level officer of the company,” Bill King, editor of Expansion Management magazine, said. “There are a lot of folks that would be hired by that organization.”

Moves over great distances usually reduce the number of workers who decide to relocate with their companies, King said. There are more than 1,700 miles between Nissan’s headquarters in Gardena, Calif. and Middle Tennessee.

“If it requires people to relocate their homes and families, normally the number of workers who relocate is much lower than 60 percent,” King said.

Nissan is considering relocating its headquarters to either Tennessee or Texas.

There are about 1,300 people working at the headquarters in management, marketing, advertising, sales and distribution and dealership development for North America. The company employs about 8,000 in Tennessee, mostly in manufacturing. About 800 people work for Nissan in Texas in a call center, for Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. and in regional offices.

A move to Tennessee would likely bring job opportunities ranging from clerical to managerial.

“The clerical staff probably won’t (relocate). It depends on the company,” King said. “Some offer relocation packages to their employees; some don’t. It depends on why they’re moving. I am sure this is not the case with Nissan, but some companies relocate to get away from their current work force.”

Nissan has forecast a sixth straight year of record profit for the full fiscal year through March 2006. The company is expecting $4.6 billion net profit for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, on $80.8 billion in sales.

Nissan’s plant in Smyrna was built in 1980 as the company’s first factory outside Japan. Altima and Maxima cars, Xterra and Pathfinder sports utility vehicles and Frontier pickups are manufactured there.

In June the company announced it would produce its first more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicle at the plant, which is one of the top North American vehicle assembly plants in terms of productivity.