JLR has met a significant milestone in upskilling 20,000 colleagues and partners in electrification and digital skills as part of its Future Skills Programme.
More than 2,400 manufacturing employees in its UK production facilities have been trained in EV skills to date with another 11,000 scheduled to receive training in addition to more than 95%, or 10,000, of JLR’s retail partner technicians, ensuring workshops are prepared to service JLR’s next generation electric vehicles.
That is in addition to nearly 3,000 engineers trained in electrification and around 2,500 in data and digital. Further, more than 4,200 JLR and retail partner apprentices and Early Careers employees are also currently undergoing training.
This year, JLR further expanded its skills base by opening a further 950 electrification roles in engineering.
Future Skills training is being led by the JLR Learning Academy which invests around £20m a year to train JLR employees and partners.
JLR said it will be training at least a further 15,000 employees across manufacturing, engineering and workshops as part of the programme.
JLR noted that in contrast to traditional ICE engine work, EV work is often more focused on process-oriented approaches rather than intense manual labour, making it accessible to a wider range of employees, including those from neurodiverse backgrounds.
Barbara Bergmeier, JLR executive director of industrial operations, said: “Our plans to electrify our ultra desirable modern luxury brands are unfolding at speed and I’m delighted with the pace that our Future Skills Programme is readying our talented workforce. We are working to attract and train a more diverse array of talent and electrification is opening up new and more attractive opportunities.”
JLR retail master technician Chloe Taylor (pictured) who works in a Sytner retailer in Northampton, commented: “I started my career as an apprentice, learning to work with combustion technology and more recently qualified to dismantle high voltage electric vehicle batteries.
“The transition to EVs presents lots of learning opportunities, shifting from much of the heavy part lifting associated with ICE vehicles, to more process-driven, technology-centred diagnostics work. I hope this shift will encourage more women to follow my path.’’