Increase in e-Mobility and Its Impact on the Job Market

The pandemic was horrible, with millions dying and several million hospitalized. But it did take people away from their offices and gave them time to spend at their homes, bringing them closer to their families, giving them time to pause and think about the planet. The market share of electric cars in the car market worldwide has risen from 4% in 2020 to 14% in 2022 and is expected to reach 18% in 2023.

Impact of EV on Oil Market

It is believed that this will reduce the consumption of oil by at least 5 million barrels a day worldwide. Remember that this figure also takes into account the fact that quite a bit of crude oil may be required to generate the extra electricity, to begin with. This is a little less than India’s projected daily consumption in the year 2030 (6.7 million barrels per day). That’s big impact.

Impact of EV on the Job Market

How does this impact the job market? This restructures the job market in the automotive sector, bringing a sea change to it. A lot of jobs will need upskilling as manufacturers move from ICE vehicles to electric vehicles.

If figures from the EU are to be believed, the net impact of a shift towards EV from ICE is a positive growth in jobs. There were anywhere between 500,000 to 850,000 new jobs that were added the EU as a result of the move.

In India too, the move is expected to bring with it a large number of jobs. To make sure this happens there must be greater focus on indigenous manufacturing of EV technology and the reduction of dependency on imports. There must be a greater focus on training people on the technology as well.

But how will the jobs in the automotive sector change? The overall design of a car will remain largely unchanged, and therefore we expect that assembly lines will not change too much (except the changes brought about by automation) but the design process and several back-end processes (including design of batteries etc.) and repair and support will be impacted heavily by the shift.

That’s everything under the hood, basically! And what is the impact? The state of Karnataka hopes to add another 55,000 jobs by 2024 and state of Tamil Nadu is aiming for 150,000 new jobs with the rollout of EV.

Jobs created by e-mobility

Let us now look at some jobs it will help create or how it will add new requirements to some older jobs, literally transforming them.

1. PDI technician

This is one of the jobs that has been modified by the shift to EV. The pre-delivery inspection of an EV is different from an ICE powered vehicle. An EV will not have a spark plug or any of the other requirements that ICE driven vehicles have as a result of their design. An EV will however require quite a bit of electrical wiring and a different motor system too. EV batteries are also different from the batteries in ICE-powered vehicles. The checklists for inspection, issues to troubleshoot, and the markers of quality will all be very different.

As per our research on LinkedIn, we observed that more than 29000 professionals are currently employed as PDI technicians in the electric vehicle sector worldwide. The major hotspots for employment are Detroit Metropolitan Area, Greater Bengaluru Area, Pune/Pimpri-Chinchwad Area, Greater Delhi Area and Greater Chennai Area. The San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles are also hiring in good numbers and have a number of people employed. Generally, the hiring demand is very high, and this talent is very hard to hire. Does not favor diversity as yet as 89% of all employed are males. General Motors, Tesla, Ford Motor Company, Stellantis, and JLR are the top employers worldwide. In India, the top employer is Tata Motors.

2. EV Software engineer

Software engineers who work in the EV industry generally develop and test code that runs the EVs including the dashboards and other in-car apps as well. They generally have a good working knowledge of Embedded C/C++.

As per our research on LinkedIn, there are less than 400 professionals currently employed as software engineers in the electric vehicle sector worldwide. The major regions of the world providing employment are Greater Bengaluru Area, Detroit Metropolitan Area, Greater Chennai Area, San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Gothenburg Metropolitan Area. Generally, the hiring demand is very high, and this talent is very hard to hire. This job role does not favor diversity as yet as 88% of all employed are males. General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Bosch, BorgWarner and Volvo are the top employers worldwide. The top employers in India are the captive centers for Renault Nissan and Mercedes Benz.

3. EV Hardware engineer

Hardware Engineers for EVs is a hard find. They make sure that the parts and components of the EV are assembled according to the design and troubleshoot any issues/failures etc.

As per our research on LinkedIn, we observed that there are less than 100 professionals currently employed as hardware engineers with a background in the electric vehicle sector worldwide. The major hotspots for employment are Greater Bengaluru Area, Detroit Metropolitan Area, San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Coimbatore Area and Greater Hyderabad Area. The hiring demand is very high. It is also very hard to hire this talent. The job does not favor diversity as yet as 86% of all employed are males. Bosch, Volvo Group, and Stellantis are the top employers worldwide but not by a big margin from their competitors.

4. Purchase Manager/Specialist

A purchase manager deals with suppliers, sourcing the right parts and components for the EV. He/she would also manage the different suppliers and administer a purchase history as well.

As per our research on LinkedIn, we observed that about 160 professionals are currently employed as purchase managers/specialists in the electric automotive sector worldwide. The major hotspots for employment are Pune/Pimpri-Chinchwad Area, Greater Delhi Area, Detroit Metropolitan Area, Greater Istanbul and Greater Bengaluru Area. Generally, the hiring demand is very high, and this talent is very hard to hire. 84% of all employed on the job are males. General Motors, BMW Group, Stellantis and Tata Motors are the top employers worldwide but not by a big margin from their competitors.

5. Service Manager/Service Technician

As a service manager/technician in the EV industry, you will need to troubleshoot issues related to EVs, check overall functionality, replace batteries, etc.

As per our research on LinkedIn, we observed that about 412 professionals are currently employed as service managers/technicians in the electric automotive sector worldwide. The major hotspots for employment are Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, Greater Delhi Area, New York City Metropolitan Area, San Francisco Bay Area, and Greater Bengaluru Area. Generally, the hiring demand is very high, and this talent is very hard to hire. 95% of all service mangers/specialists are male. Tesla is by far the biggest employer followed by Rivian and Ola Electric.

6. Delivery Partner/Executive

The demand for delivery partners is on the rise, as the affordability of vehicles improves. E-bikes and scooters are easily available, and riders have easy access to them. As a delivery partner/executive/driver you will be delivering food or other packages to customers on demand.

As per our research on LinkedIn, we observed that about 607,676 are currently employed as delivery partners/drivers worldwide. The major hotspots for employment are New York City Metropolitan Area, London Area, United Kingdom, Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, and Greater Paris Metropolitan Region. Generally, the hiring demand is low. It is very easy to hire this talent. 82% of all delivery partners/drivers are male. DoorDash, Dominos, Amazon and Pizza Hut are the largest employers in the world.

Closing Words

Electric vehicles are the future of the automotive industry. There is still some confusion with regard to the skills that will be required in the future, and people are still adapting to the changes introduced. The old servicemen and technicians in the auto industry have a lot to learn if they must keep themselves in the game. The same goes for the software and hardware engineers as well. As we have seen for every role, India is a favored geography, and many companies are driving recruitment in India. The game has changed, the rules are different, let’s see how it plays out.