New York: Generac Power Systems, a leading manufacturer of generators, is experiencing a sharp increase in demand following the hurricanes that have wreaked havoc across parts of the U.S. in 2024. The company, which operates factories in Wisconsin and South Carolina, has responded by creating hundreds of new jobs to meet the rising need for backup power solutions.
“We’ve been looking to add 400 people,” said Generac CEO Aaron Jagdfeld during an interview with the international news agency Reuters. The company began ramping up its hiring efforts after Hurricane Beryl hit Texas earlier this year and has continued expanding its workforce in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Large storms often provide a significant boost to the Waukesha, Wisconsin-based company, known for producing portable and standby generators. These standby units are permanently installed and automatically activate during power outages. Jagdfeld noted that each major storm generates an additional $50 million to $100 million in sales for the company.
“There’s going to be a surge over the next six, 12, 18 months in residential standby units,” Jagdfeld predicted. “Those will be very popular in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas—all the storm-impacted areas.”
While sales typically spike after a storm, Jagdfeld acknowledged that a slowdown usually follows. However, each surge leads to a higher baseline level of business. “We call it a step-function business because we grow in steps,” he explained. “And we see our business continuing to grow this way,” driven by increasingly severe storms due to climate change and the ongoing deterioration of the U.S. power infrastructure.
Generac measures power “quality” by the number of outage hours experienced each year, a figure the company has tracked since 2010. According to Jagdfeld, the U.S. has already recorded 1.2 billion outage hours in the first nine months of 2024, marking the worst performance since the company began monitoring the data.
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The 400 new workers Generac plans to hire will primarily fill production roles, adding to the roughly 5,000 production employees out of its 9,000-strong workforce. The company is also expanding its manufacturing footprint. It opened a new plant in South Carolina three years ago to produce residential standby generators and is currently constructing another factory in Wisconsin to build large commercial and industrial generators.
However, Generac was not immune to the destruction brought by Hurricane Helene. The storm caused significant damage to the company’s South Carolina facility, tearing off parts of the roof and flooding sections of the plant. Power at the factory was out for five days.
“We struggled to get people back into the factory,” Jagdfeld noted, pointing out that some employees were without power for 10 days or faced personal challenges that prevented them from returning to work. Despite these setbacks, the company managed to maintain production levels by increasing output at its Wisconsin facility.
