Radical recruitment

In positive news for workers and communities, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will create 5,000 new high-tech jobs.
Unite welcomed the news, saying that investment in the skills necessary to manufacture the next generation of vehicles is “essential for the future of our auto industry”.

The car-maker has teamed up with the virtual band Gorillaz to find 5,000 staff who will work on its electric and autonomous vehicles.

Applicants must first download the Gorillaz mixed reality app – available on Apple’s App Store or Google Play – and complete a two step challenge.

During the first stage applicants must assemble an all-electric Jaguar I-PACE Concept sports car.
The second stage involves solving a series of code breaking puzzles.

JLR head of electrical engineering, Alex Heslop, said, “As the automotive industry transforms over the next decade, fuelled by software innovation, we have to attract the best talent and that requires a radical rethink of how we recruit.

“Here we’ve found an engaging way to recruit a diverse talent pool in software systems, cyber systems, app development and graphics performance. It will be the first of its kind.”

The company will recruit 1,000 software and electronic engineers as well as 4,000 workers from other sectors, including manufacturing.

Recruitment will take place over the next year and most of the jobs will be UK-based. JLR has sites in the West Midlands and Merseyside.

The company has signalled that half of its new models will be available as electric vehicles by the end of the decade, meaning that staff will need new skills.

Unite assistant general secretary, Tony Burke, welcomed the jobs.

He said, “This is very positive news from Jaguar Land Rover. The jobs being created are high-tech, as you would expect from a company at the forefront of a rapidly developing sector.

“Britain’s car industry is world-beating and to keep it that way we need to keep ahead of the curve. It is essential for the future of our auto industry that the research, development, production and maintenance of electric vehicles and battery technologies are based in Britain.

“That’s why Unite is developing a strategy that works to situate the production of electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as the technology associated with them, in the UK.”