One of the arguments that United Auto Workers are making in their demands that caused the current strike, is that the transition to electric vehicles puts their current jobs in jeopardy. The union members have said that, because EVs have fewer parts, the transition to them may lead to job losses. So, how does the transition to EVs change the automaker’s workforce?
That’s a question GM’s Telva McGruder answered in an exclusive interview on Electric Ladies Podcast last year, and she would know. A 29-year veteran of GM, McGruder was Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer when this exclusive interview was conducted and is now Executive Director of Body Manufacturing Engineering. Her roles at GM include leading “facility engineering for the GM global footprint and facility management strategy for North American manufacturing facilities.”
Energy News and others report that one reason behind the workers demand for a 40% pay increase over four years, is to cover that job loss risk. They also want to unionize the EV battery factories that the automakers plan to open.
A long-term strike could cause 1.2 million job losses nationally and 300,000 in Michigan, according to economists who spoke with PBS News Hour. These potential losses reflect how the work stoppage would affect the rest of the industry and communities where they work.
How GM’s workforce is changing with EVs and technology
The forces changing the industry include the development of 21st century technologies, innovation, consumer demand, regulations, a changing consumer base and infrastructure, and the imperative to address climate change and reduce GM’s own carbon footprint. McGruder described how the types of talent the company is looking for going forward is changing as a result, including the transition to electric vehicles:
1. Understanding the impact on the team and communities: McGruder explained it this way: “Changing our trajectory, so to speak, from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles is impactful both personally and professionally, technically to not only our team members, but also to all the communities that we touch by virtue of this change. And so, the first thing you have to do is, understand that there are team members that are working on internal combustion engines that are trying to understand what does this mean for my future.”
“So, our leadership team started articulating how we’re going to make this transition and that it’s going to occur over a number of years and that we are going to all learn together and that our internal combustion engine vehicles are still magnificent and we’re going to continue making them better and better every year, which is what we’ve continued to do,” McGruder said. “We had to explain to our team members that, you know, some of you will develop new skills that will allow you to work in electric vehicles.”
2. The auto sector is in large part a technology sector today. When I asked McGruder if the auto sector is almost more of a technology sector than just a transportation sector these days, her answer was: “Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and that’s a consequence of many things. It’s a consequence of what we’re working to provide in the vehicles and how technology has evolved such that data are present in the core of the vehicle, in the way that we work with the vehicle as drivers and users of those vehicles.”
“So, what we’re doing as we develop our vehicles, is we really are taking advantage of the fact that data is our ally, right, and allows us to do amazing things, things that we couldn’t conceive of before. It allows the vehicle to answer questions for the user that it couldn’t answer before. And it allows people to be more comfortable in their vehicles in terms of the way the vehicle handles in terms of the way people can interact with the vehicle. So, yeah, it’s very much user-focused technology-driven innovation in the auto industry and definitely at General Motors.”
3. Needing different and “multi-variable” skills today: “One of the big things that’s changed with acquiring talent and thinking about what talent we need is, we are acquiring talent that has different capabilities and at a much faster rate than we ever have,” McGruder explained. “So, to say that a bit differently, the types of skill sets we need are multi-variable now, like they never have been before and along with that, those particular skills are evolving so fast that when we think about the talent that we need, what we really have to think about is, what is it that we’re going to be doing three years from now, four years from now. And, what type of talent should we bring in today that we’re confident can evolve with us that can grow with us and grow really quickly?”
4. Looking for “adaptability”: The fact that the industry, technologies, manufacturing and consumer demands are changing so fast today, means, “We’re not only looking for the skillset, but we’re looking for adaptability. We’re looking for collaborators. We’re looking for people that have intersectional types of skills as well,” is how McGruder put it.
Jobs evolve faster today too, according to McGruder: “if we bring in today, for example, an environmental engineer that environmental engineer may be working on battery development today, and they may be working on process efficiencies in our manufacturing sites tomorrow. And they may be figuring out how to put those together when it comes to creating a more sustainable future a year from now.”
A key shift then, she emphasized is that, “we’re really looking for talent that can adapt like that, and that can readily work with the data analytics team and, and readily work with all the teams that we have that are quickly evolving to do whatever it takes.”
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