5:57 am, September 11, 2013
THERE are not enough skilled engineers to fill Jaguar Land Rover’s recently announced 1,700 new jobs, believes boss Jeremy Hicks.
The firm’s UK managing director told Car Dealer that his firm struggles to find engineering talent – and may be forced to look abroad for jobs.
And he explained that it’s not just the manufacturer that’s struggling – his dealer network is having a tough time finding the right people too.
Hicks (pictured) told Car Dealer that one of his Scottish dealers has to compete for technicians with the oil companies there – and has been forced to recruit in Poland to fill the roles.
‘The dealer in question has been forced to look to Poland for its technicians because locally there is no one with the correct skills,’ said Hicks. ‘They have the expertise and the desire to move and the dealer puts them through English lessons as a benefit.’
Jaguar Land Rover announced 1,700 new jobs for Britain in a £1.5bn investment yesterday – but Hicks says more young people need to get interested in engineering if they’re to be filled.
‘People forget that Britain is a very successful manufacturing country – they forget that we really do make stuff here,’ he said. ‘But we need new engineering talent. We need younger people to opt for engineering as a career to fill these roles we are creating for Britain.’
In the last three years Jaguar Land Rover has created 11,000 jobs in the UK. The 1,700 announced at Solihull is on top of the 6,000-strong workforce that already earns a living at the facility.
