Auto sector to go into top hiring gear on digitisation & EV push

The EV-focused auto industry showed one of the highest hiring intents among seven key industries at 40 per cent and is expected to employ 14 million people directly by 2022, according to digital recruiter Taggd's annual Decoding Jobs Industry Sectoral Reports 2022 conducted in association with CII and Sunstone Eduversity.

The almost 2X increase in hiring intent over 2021, when it reported a 23 per cent hiring spike over 2020, comes amid a larger digital transformation going on in almost every industry coupled with the push for electric vehicles.

The figure puts it at par with the IT/Tech industry which has seen a major talent war play out amid record attrition levels, driving up salaries of skilled employees. The report pegs an overall 31 per cent rise in hiring levels across internet businesses, automotive, IT/Tech, core industries, BFSI, pharma & healthcare, manufacturing/engineering.

This has also meant that the auto industry requires workers and employees with strong technical skills. “In terms of job creation and demand, there is a shift from mechanical and automobile engineers towards employing data scientists, technology specialists, analysts, electronic and electrical engineers. OEMs are focusing on hiring employees that exhibit advanced digital skills to meet the need created by sustainability, digitisation and urbanisation, in the automobile sector,” said the report.

With tech talent already at a high demand across industries, the report pointed out that the automobile companies are not competing for not only within the automobile industry but also competing with software, FMCG, insurance companies.

With digitisation in demand, nearly 75 per cent of employers in the sector feel that there is a skill gap. Some evolving skill requirements, away from traditional manufacturing, include conceptualisation of product design and development, diagnostics and troubleshooting of car clinics and research, supply chain optimisation to improve sales efficiency, building strong procurement in line with local trade practices and supplier development, dealer-OEM interfacing, building strong retail distribution networks through lead generation and development of customer loyalty, the report said.

Further, the sector is expected to continue favouring non-tier 1 cities with 55 per cent hiring, while tier 1 cities are likely to see 45 per cent of the overall hiring, reflecting a similar trend in the overall industry.

But auto industry is likely to largely require in-person physical presence on premises, with only 15 per cent of the jobs in this sector are expected to continue remotely, with most people going back to work on premises.

“From an IT/ITES space there has been a sudden spurt of exponential growth during last two year. India is a hub of the largest, diverse and the most attractive labour market in the world, closely followed by Malaysia, Philippines, China, Mexico, Brazil & Hungary. We would be witnessing a major rise in IT, technology & Analytics talent space: example cyber-defence, software engineering, AI,IoT, ARVR,ML, ADAS, Bigdata, etc,” Harish Pillai, General Manager (HR) Ford, said in the report.

It also quoted Hero Electric’s AVP (HR) Manu Sharma as saying that the automobile industry will be loaded with smart connectivity in the next five years. “Since this is a disruption, there are a lot of doubts in the minds of the customer. Addressing assuring them about the technology remains of paramount importance. Acquiring talent with the right skill sets and getting them conditioned to the industry roadblocks of the electric two-wheeler segment were the main challenges we had faced in the past. We at Hero are currently hiring the right outlook and training candidates for the required skills,” he had said.