Emergence of EVs and the shift to autonomous automotive machines is driving new skills demand in the automotive industry in India. “ACES (automated-connected-electrified-shared) is the new acronym for the future” of automobiles and it’s not just the top OEMs that are scouting for fresh and upgraded talent. The demand is across the entire production and supply pyramid and a race is underway, “with every tier in the supply chain looking for the next-generation technology”.
The shift has changed the doors that were traditionally open for Mechanical and Electronics Engineering talent, and is now welcoming a wider talent spread across newer domains. The skill demands have become increasingly specific and are today open to AI/ML Professionals, Chemical & Material Scientists, Software Specialists, CyberSecurity Specialists, Power Electronics Specialists, Embedded Systems specialists and more.
With many of the products either in the design or prototyping stage, the focus on R&D in the EV space among OEMs is high and majority of the R&D talent investment is in domains of Batteries, Battery management, Security, Driving Experience and infrastructure for charging.
Traditional Automobiles being primarily Mechanical systems that function to drive the vehicle, the skills were oriented on mechanical domains such as Design, Simulation, Engineering Change Management processes in PLM, Service and After Sales Support areas. The EV space, though primarily under the same production zone, is an incremental upgrade over current generation automobiles and has hence triggered a fresh wave of demand for upgraded talent.
Top EV Skills & Job Opportunities
The top and thriving skills in EV to watch for in 2020 both from a demand and supply point of view are:
• E RnD
• Embedded Technologies
• Battery Management and Storage
• Sensors and predictability
• Infotainment
• Autonomous vehicles
• Shared Mobility
Some of the Hot Jobs in E RnD are: System Engineers for Electro Mobility, Mechanical hardware design and testing Engineers, Thermal Engineers and Technical Internships.
Hot opportunities in the Embedded Tech & Battery Management domains are in: Embedded Framework Engineers (Adaptive AutoSAR), Verification & Validation Engineers, Communication Protocol Designers, Computational and Modelling in Matlab/Simulink, Thermal Data Analysts & Thermal Systems Designers.
| Skills | Up to 3 years | 3-6 years | 6-9 years | 10-12 years |
| E RnD | 8 to 12 Lacs | 10 to 15 Lacs | 15 to 20 Lacs | 25 to 35 Lacs |
| Embedded Technologies | 8 to 10 Lacs | 12 to 15 lacs | 15 to 18Lacs | 18 to 25 Lacs |
| Battery Management and Storage | 6 to 10 Lacs | 10 to 15 Lacs | 15 to 20 Lacs | 20 to 25 Lacs |
| Sensors and predictability | 9 to 12 Lacs | 12 to 18 lacs | 15 to 22Lacs | 22 to 30 Lacs |
| Infotainment | 6 to 8 Lacs | 8 to 12 Lacs | 12 to 15 Lacs | 15 to 22 Lacs |
| Autonomous Vehicles | 9 to 12 Lacs | 12 to 16 lacs | 15 to 25 Lacs | 25 to 35 Lacs |
Job openings across these top skillsets are found to be lucrative for talent across experience levels and some of these also accommodate even younger talent with compensation figures equivalent to those of experienced talent in traditional engineering and research functions. Typical employment change in this domain is seen to bring a salary movement anywhere between 30% to 45% over last drawn salary.
Top EV Skills Employers
Some of the high stake EV linked openings and marquee positions are with enterprises like Hero Electric, Tata Electric, Mahindra Electric, Ola Electric, Hyundai Motor India, Mercedes Benz R&D, Ashok Leyland, Goldstone, JBM, Ather Energy, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Volta Automotive, Bajaj Auto, Menza Motors and OKINAWA Electric.