But the automotive industry has evolved and more and more auto producers are directing their efforts towards electric vehicles, so engineers must meet new requirements to be eligible for the available positions. But finding skilled EV engineers is impossible, companies claim while pointing to hundreds of unfilled positions.
"We're being a lot more aggressive to recruit these people because it is very competitive," says Jerry Klarr, director of North American hybrid programs for AVL Powertrain Engineering Inc. in suburban Detroit, according to a report by Autonews. "There is definitely a shortage out there of people with the right experience," he added.
"We have people working on projects, and they're desperately looking for people to fill positions and keep them going," Tata Technologies spokesman Daniel Saad also added.
Tesla Motors on the other hand is trying a different approach on the matter. The EV manufacturer doesn't think experience must be a prerequisite, so it's willing to hire engineers coming from other industry sectors as well.
"Whether it's working for Apple on the iPhone or people building robotic arms, we are finding individuals who have tackled challenging problems," Arnnon Geshuri, Tesla vice president of human resources explained. "There is an amazing pool of talent we can pull from."
General Motors is one of the companies that are looking to hire more than 1,000 engineers for its future EV projects, as the US-based giant expects Chevrolet Volt to become a real phenomenon in the next couple of months. As a results, the company wants to hire new engineers at its facilities in Michigan over the next two years. All the new employees will be focusing on further developing or creating technologies related to batteries, electric motors and power controls for future EVs.
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