Electric vehicle (EV) companies are accelerating their talent search, as the segment shows strong growth due to a rising inclination towards sustainable mobility.
Companies like Hero Electric, MG Motor, Simple Energy and Yulu Bikes are looking to hire employees for specialised profiles, such as EV technicians, battery recycling experts, software developers, as well as for manufacturing and engineering. On the agenda is not just hiring laterally, but also building up fresh talent through partnerships with educational institutions.
According to the India Energy Storage Alliance, the Indian EV industry is expected to expand at a compounded annual growth rate of 36%, as people look to make the shift towards clean mobility solutions and amid high fuel cost. Policy focus, incentivisation and subsidies, improvements in infrastructure, and lower cost of ownership vis-a-vis conventional vehicles are giving EV adoption a fillip.
Hero Electric is looking for employees in EV design, battery management systems, IOTA, manufacturing, supply chain, charging infrastructure, software development and service mechanics.
“There has been a significant increase in hiring at our company as the electric two-wheeler industry witnesses a surge in demand. We are looking to grow our 900-strong headcount by 200% by 2025,” Manu Sharma, assistant vice president of HR, Hero Electric, told ET.
Simple Energy is looking to hire 1,500-odd employees over the next financial year.
“We are hiring talent from automotive, software, firmware industries across India and the globe, and are hiring in all our departments – hardware, software, engineering, manufacturing, sales and service domains,” said Shreshth Mishra, cofounder of the EV startup that currently employs about 350 people.
Data put together by CIEL HR Services for ET show that six out of 10 companies in the EV space expect an increase in hiring intent over the next six months, with Bengaluru remaining the hottest location for EV talent, making up more than half the job postings.
“The EV sector has witnessed robust growth of 215% in employee numbers over the past two years, according to our analysis from postings on job portals. Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR remain the hub for EV startups with the two cities receiving most of the funding in the sector,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director of the staffing firm.
EV startups in India raised a total of $1.66 billion in 2022, a jump of 117% from 2021, a recent report by market intelligence platform Tracxn stated.
At Bengaluru-headquartered Yulu Bikes, which aims to have 70,000-100,000 bikes on the road by the end of the year, hiring is on for technology, data science, public policy, telematics, firmware, and operations.
“We are currently at around 310 employees and 800 ground operations staff, and are looking to increase the headcount by 10-15% over this year,” said Rupini Raman, head of human capital.
Most companies are hiring people from within the automobile industry, but HR heads say they are open to hiring from other sectors as the EV industry is still in a nascent stage.
Companies are also looking at building up fresh talent.
In January this year, MG Motor India partnered with 22 colleges across the country as part of its MG Nurture programme to upskill more than 25,000 students in EV technologies over four years. The firm has also provided 13 connected cars/EVs to colleges for students to get practical learning experience with the vehicles.
“We have also tied up with IIT-Delhi and IIT-Sonepat for a research programme in the field of electric and autonomous vehicles,” said Gaurav Gupta, its chief commercial officer.
Under its partnership with the American India Foundation (AIF) and ITIs, Hero Electric offers multiple skilling, training, and self-employment programmes.
