Jaguar Land Rover has trained more than 20,000 colleagues and partners in electrification and digital skills as part of its Future Skills Programme.
With significant progress made in upskilling its workforce for electrification, the luxury car manufacturer has trained more than 2,400 manufacturing employees in its UK production facilities with EV skills. More than 95%, or 10,000, of JLR’s retail partner technicians have also received training, ensuring workshops are prepared to service JLR’s next generation luxury electric vehicles.
In addition, nearly 3,000 engineers have been trained in electrification and around 2,500 in data and digital. Over 4,200 JLR and retail partner apprentices and early careers employees are currently in training.
With work to transform JLR facilities for electric vehicle production progressing quickly, electrification training for over 11,000 JLR manufacturing colleagues is also now underway. And in FY24, JLR says it has further expanded its skills base by opening a further 950 electrification roles in engineering.
JLR has completed electrification and digital training with 20,000 colleagues and partners in readiness to build electric cars / Picture: JLR
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Training is being led by the JLR Learning Academy, which invests around £20m a year to train JLR employees and partners. Looking forward, JLR says it will be training at least a further 15,000 employees across manufacturing, engineering and workshops as part of the programme.
Electrification is creating more opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds. 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 upskill a more diverse array of talent and electrification is opening up new and more attractive opportunities for females such as Chloe, who have previously specialised in ICE technology. The realisation of our Reimagine strategy is dependent on the skill of our people and a more diverse workforce brings additional strength.”
Training is also underway for 11,000 JLR manufacturing colleagues to build battery electric vehicles / Picture: JLR
Chloe Taylor, JLR retail master technician at a Sytner retailer in Northampton, added: “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.”
JLR has also introduced a number of other initiatives to enable those from more diverse backgrounds to access a STEM career, including a virtual work experience programme with 2,000 enrolments in eight weeks, of which 31% are women and girls, as well as a schools partnership programme to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to begin a career in STEM.
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