Amid layoffs in Big Tech, auto industry gets more creative to lure IT talent

Jaguar Land Rover's bold attempt to lure recently fired workers from U.S.-based tech giants such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Twitter underlines just how badly automakers need to add digital-focused experts to their teams to make the software-defined car a reality.

The automaker said it was looking to hire about 800 workers across the UK, U.S., Ireland, India, China and Hungary to fill digital and engineering vacancies.

The jobs are in areas including autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, electrification, cloud software, data science and machine learning.

Automakers such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz and component makers such as Continental, the world's eighth-largest supplier, face the same issue as JLR.

They need everything from software and algorithm developers to data analysts to AI and cybersecurity specialists, executives at the companies told Automotive News Europe.

And while they have not been as bold as JLR, a subsidiary of Tata Motors, in extending invitations to apply to unemployed Twitter and Facebook experts, each has taken steps to become more attractive to people with their skill sets.

Audi Board Member for Human Resources Xavier Ros said that to respond to stiff competition for talent the German company has joined forces with sibling brands within the Volkswagen Group to find experts who can help with the transition into a tech company.

“We actively reach out to people by visiting relevant trade fairs and select events, combining that with targeted social media communication and active sourcing," Ros, who was named an Automotive News Europe Rising Star in 2011, said in an emailed reply to questions. "To reach international talent, we visit international trade fairs, for example, the MIT career fair in Boston this coming February, and we also do active sourcing on an international level."

One-click applications

Claudia Birle, head of global talent acquisition at Continental, said that two-thirds of the supplier's 6,000 open positions are in IT and automotive business development.

As Continental has worked to fill those posts it has learned that IT professionals expect a quick and effective application and hiring process. In addition, many of them expect companies to reach out to them when they have interesting positions to offer, Birle said in an emailed reply to questions.

To better align with these candidates, Continental now offers a one-click application process, resume-parsing as well as a system that allows the supplier to stay in contact with applicants, prospects, interns and other experts in the field.

Continental's use of online assessments also helps the company determine if the candidate can develop the competencies needed to grow into the job.

"References or experience in the automotive business is not essential," she adds. "It is about the potential and motivation we want to see in our future employees."

Global recruiting

Mercedes-Benz Board Member for Human Resources Sabine Kohleisen said that the company casts as wide a net as possible when recruiting and then encourages its employees to collaborate regardless of where they are based.

"We always look for new talent around the world," she said via email. "Take our software engineers. They are already working together across countries to develop the software for our vehicles."

To help develop the coming Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS), the company will add an additional 3,000 software-focused positions globally.

"So far, we have filled 2,300 positions," she said. "To attract IT talents, we use a multi-channel sourcing strategy with a high variety of methods and tools. One major sourcing channel for us is social media."

Tapping in-house talent

Mercedes, Audi and Continental have also turned their attention toward maximizing an existing resource: their employees.

Mercedes offers a training program to all employees interested in becoming a so-called "data worker."

This program includes four different learning paths: data product owner, data engineer, data analyst and data scientist. The newly minted experts will work on data-driven products and processes to enable efficiencies, increase revenue or to develop and improve the data-focused services Mercedes delivers to its customers, the company said.

"Our aim at Mercedes is to further develop a worldwide learning culture with a focus on the key areas of our transformation," Kohleisen added. "That is why we are putting lifelong learning and continuing education for employees at the center of sustainable personnel development."

Birle said Continental also knows it cannot fill all its openings with external candidates.

"We also have to focus on our internal talents," she said.

To that end, Continental in 2018 established a global learning and training initiative for employees -- the Software Academy -- that supports lifelong learning. Today 27,000 employees are involved with the academy.

Audi's Ros said the automaker's goal is to maintain its key competencies through "upskilling" and to add new competencies through reskilling.

"Reskilling plays an important role in the field of e-mobility, for example," he said. "Developers of internal combustion engines can qualify via various programs to become developers of high-voltage battery systems."

Ros said Audi has launched multiple qualification programs in the IT sector in recent years. They include Digital Shift for production and logistics. The program started as a pilot with 12 production workers at Audi's car assembly plant in Neckarsulm, Germany, in 2021 and is now an integral part of the company's qualification program.

In this program, employees qualify for jobs in application operation, software development or IT system support.  

"In doing so, we rely on individual qualification paths, which are adapted to the future depending on previous knowledge, individual learning speed and requirement profile," Ros said. "In addition, the internal recruiting concept for this program focuses primarily on individual interests and skills rather than degrees."

Mercedes' Kohleisen said there is no one-size-fits-all solution to reskilling and upskilling.

"We offer a wide range of qualification programs -- both digitally and face-to-face -- so that our employees can broaden their horizons via self-determined learning," she said.

Kohleisen noted that since 2020 about 63,500 employees have successfully completed further training in topics related to electric mobility. In 2021, Mercedes had about 75,000 participants in training courses on software, coding, and IT worldwide.

Limited benefits

Gartner analyst Pedro Pacheco cautioned, however, that reskilling and upskilling can only take a company so far.

"You can't take a person that comes from a very different area and say, ‘OK, we are going to give you some training and you will become a top notch software engineer in no time,' " he said.

Pacheco said reskilling and upskilling works best when the participants come from adjacent areas. If they have some basic IT knowledge, they can be taught additional skills so they can take on a wider range of responsibilities within the organization.

"But there is a limit,” Pacheco said. “You can't just turn everyone in the company into a software engineer."