JLR has trained 20,000 to build luxury electric cars

More than 20,000 JLR workers and staff from partners have been trained in electrification and digital skills as part of JLR’s Future Skills Programme.

It includes more than 2,400 manufacturing employees in its UK production facilities with EV skills including at its electric propulsion manufacturing centre at the i54 at Wolverhampton.

More than 95 per cent, or 10,000, of JLR’s retail partner technicians have been trained, ensuring workshops are prepared to service JLR’s next generation luxury electric vehicles.

Nearly 3,000 engineers have been trained in electrification, around 2,500 in data and digital and more than 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 more than 11,000 JLR manufacturing colleagues is now underway.

In 2023-2024, JLR further expanded its skills base by opening a further 950 electrification roles in engineering.

Future Skills training is being led by the JLR Learning Academy which invests around £20 million a year to train JLR employees and partners, so they can achieve their potential.

Looking forward, JLR 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 train a more diverse array of talent and electrification is opening up new and more attractive opportunities for females such as Chloe. The realisation of our Reimagine strategy is dependent on the skill of our people and a more diverse workforce brings additional strength.’’

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 with of which 31 per cent are women and girls; a schools partnership programme to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to begin a career in STEM; working through partnerships to attract more diverse candidates in the JLR’s Early Careers scheme and using AI to make job description wording more diverse and inclusive.

The next electric vehicle to launch will be the new Range Rover Electric manufactured in Solihull, for which clients can join the waiting list.