With the sales of new energy vehicles rising year by year, the installed capacity of power batteries in the mainland has also risen rapidly. From 2017 to 2021, the installed capacity increased from 36.4GWh to 154.5GWh, and the number of power battery companies that achieved installed vehicles was reduced from 102 to 58.
The concentration of the power battery industry has increased year by year, and the Ningde era (300750. SZ) leading position is difficult to shake for a while, the second echelon of battery manufacturers seek to expand market share, expansion has become a common choice in the current situation, followed by a huge manpower demand and talent competition.
Infographic According to IC Photo
Battery factory general workers:
Newcomers get a thousand yuan bonus when they enter the company, and they recruit more and go more
Wang Hu (pseudonym), an ordinary operator of a large lithium battery factory, has recently been busy publishing the factory's general worker recruitment announcements on local forums and Tieba and attaching his own WeChat id. This is not to promote the company for free, but to promote rewards inward.
"For every person I recommend to successfully join, I can get 1,000 yuan, and the recommended person also has a 1,500 yuan entry award." He told Red Star Capital, "The company directly recruits, I am not an intermediary. You don't need to meet with me, you just need to add me ToChat, register it, and then you go to the company to queue up for an interview. After passing the interview and medical examination, you can join the company the next day and sign an employment contract with the company. There are five insurances and one gold, package food and housing, and the minimum net income can be more than 6,000 yuan per month. There is a subsidy of 20 yuan per night for the night shift. Overtime is strictly in accordance with the labor law, 1.5 times in normal times, 2 times on weekends, and 3 times on statutory holidays. ”
He detailed the salary package and the content of the work, and in his mouth, the operator of the battery factory is a leisurely, simple and comfortable job. "The company sits in many shifts, constant temperature workshop, not assembly line. Mainly look at the machine, press the button, detect the product. ”
Red Star Capital Bureau learned that the lithium battery production process is divided into three major sections: pole plate production, battery cell production, and battery assembly. The first two sections are now almost completely automated production lines, and only some of the transfer and commissioning equipment has manual participation, which is what Wang Hu said about watching the machine and pressing the button. At present, most of the domestic battery manufacturers use manual module production lines, and a production line of twenty or thirty processes requires at least 50 labor. Some leading enterprises have begun to shift to fully automated production lines, but they have not yet been used on a large scale. "There is no toxicity as you might think, battery factory work is very safe." Wang Hu said.
The disadvantages are shifts, dust-free clothing, remote location, and no entertainment. "We worked two shifts, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.", "The base is far from the city, and we don't have the time and energy to go out and spend, but it also allows people to save money." ”
In Wang Hu's view, the battery factory general worker is a very friendly profession for low-educated workers, "good health, can read and write 26 English letters, will be simple calculations on the line." According to him, junior high school and below degree is 1 grade, and the basic salary is 2600. High school and secondary school are 2 grades, with a base salary of 2700. College degree and above is 3 grades, the basic salary is 2900. There is also a fixed allowance of 850 yuan per month, a full attendance award of 100 to 300 yuan, a performance award of 200 yuan, and other income is calculated according to the actual workload and overtime.
In addition to more work and more gains, the major domestic lithium battery factories also try to fight for skilled workers, not only set up a year-on-year increase in the length of service award, some companies also issued a bonus of 3,000 to 4,000 yuan to the workers who stayed in office in the New Year.
"Stay in the factory for the New Year overtime, all bonuses, red envelopes add up, the monthly income can exceed 10,000 yuan." Wang Hu told the Red Star Capital Bureau that even so, the turnover rate of general workers has increased year by year. "First, the two shifts are very tired, and many people don't work long." The more important reason is that major lithium battery factories are short of people, and small and medium-sized factories have increased their salaries.
Red Star Capital Bureau learned that the comprehensive income of general workers in the Ningde era is 5000-7000 yuan, AVIC lithium battery is 6000-8500 yuan, and Tianhui new energy lithium battery is more than 9000 yuan. "Many battery factories are in the same area, and the treatment is all packaged, five insurances and one gold." The work content is the same, and the monthly income is 1,000 yuan higher, which is very attractive. We recruit more and walk more. ”
Headhunter: You dig me and I dig you
This is how the treatment is "rolled"
If the salary gap of general workers is not large, it can quickly make up for the manpower. Then the shortage of technical and senior management talents in the lithium battery industry is a scarce resource, and even spawned a number of specialized battery talent recruitment websites.
Zhang Han (pseudonym), a headhunter who has been in the industry for 3 years, told Red Star Capital Bureau that in recent years, the number of recruitment positions in major lithium battery companies has soared, especially technical and management posts, which has doubled almost every year. Taking Tianneng Battery as an example, from 2018 to 2021, the company's network-wide job releases were 175, 256, 648, and 1078 respectively. Among them, 70% of the positions are located in the headquarters of Huzhou, and the remaining positions are distributed in Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Suzhou, Qiandongnan and Chengdu.
Demand doubles, and treatment doubles. "All companies want senior talent." This is where Zhang Han wants to complain the most, "This year you dig me, next year I dig you, and the treatment of talents rises like a rocket." Lithium battery PACK engineers, BMS electronic engineers, process engineers, cell R & D engineers and other popular technical positions, the annual salary can be 200,000-300,000 yuan. Many positions marked with "urgent" requirements, especially technical posts and senior managers who require independent design and research and development, are paid interviews and may also have equity incentives. ”
Red Star Capital Bureau noted that in the major recruitment websites, most lithium battery engineers and design positions require more than 3 years of relevant work experience. The director level requires more than 10 years, including more than 5 years of management experience. Although some recruitment guidelines do not require experience, recruiters will give detailed requirements on the phone, such as quality inspection requirements of more than 2 years of on-site quality management and quality inspection work experience in the battery industry; equipment maintenance personnel require 1-2 years of lithium battery storage cabinet related equipment maintenance experience.
"Where are there so many skilled hands?" Compared with large factories such as the Ningde era, small and medium-sized enterprises can only attract talents by increasing salaries, but when they encounter top talents, large factories can come up with better treatment. A headhunter revealed that a large factory offered a senior power battery cell designer 3 times the salary of a small and medium-sized enterprise.
One of Zhang Han's daily tasks is to file lithium battery talents and regularly understand their trends. Whenever a company recruits people, she will ask these talents whether they have the intention of job-hopping. "With the accumulation of work experience, the self-evaluation of talents will also improve year by year, and the current market will naturally require higher treatment."
Headhunters will also pay attention to fresh graduates of relevant majors in well-known colleges and universities, and they can start to recruit people after 1-2 years of work. Majors in Materials Science, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Surface, Interface, Thermodynamics, Kinetics, Engineering Machining, and Electronic Circuit Technology are all focused.
Zhang Han suggested, "Fresh graduates should not pay too much attention to salary, it is best to accumulate work experience in large factories first, and effectively participate in research and development projects." After 2-3 years of work, the salary can be doubled. ”
In addition, lithium battery companies have also continuously expanded their overseas territory, and in recent years, the demand for language, import and export policies and logistics personnel has also been growing. "The Ningde era and Hive Energy have built production bases in Germany, and LG New Energy has built factories in China, which may be the reason for the increase in demand for German and Korean engineer assistants."
The price of raw materials has increased, and car companies have urged delivery
Power batteries set off a wave of expansion
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2021, the sales of new energy vehicles in mainland China reached 3.521 million units, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, accounting for 13.4% of total automobile sales, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years.
According to the data of China Automotive Power Battery Innovation Alliance, the installed capacity of power batteries in mainland China will accumulate 154.5GWh in 2021, an increase of 142.8% year-on-year. Of the world's top 10 power battery companies, 5 are Chinese companies, and CATL has reached the top for the fifth consecutive year.
According to the data of the Institute of High Industry Industry (GGII), from 2017 to 2021, the installed capacity increased from 36.4GWh to 154.5GWh, and the number of power battery companies that achieved car loading support was reduced from 102 to 58, and the proportion of the top 10 companies installed increased from 82.8% to 92.2%.
The industry expects that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will further increase. At the same time, domestic power battery raw materials continued the rally in 2021. On February 25, according to data from Shanghai Steel Union, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was 475,000 yuan per ton; the average price of lithium metal was 2.65 million yuan per ton. The price of battery-grade lithium hydroxide and ternary materials also continued to rise. Shanghai Oujin Industrial Co., Ltd. battery-grade lithium hydroxide latest quotation of 420,000 yuan per ton.
There are raw material price increases, vehicle companies urging delivery, and battery manufacturers seeking to expand market share, these factors have prompted battery companies to expand production.
CATL has announced the expansion plan, and the production capacity will reach 600-700GWh in 2025; Guoxuan Hi-Tech (002074. SZ) 2025 capacity planning target of 300GWh; China Innovation Airlines has mass production and under construction battery capacity of more than 100GWh, by 2025 the planned capacity will exceed 500GWh; Honeycomb Energy's 2025 global capacity planning target increased to 600GWh, in 2021 a total of 7 times released the news of production expansion, the total investment of 77.6 billion yuan. According to incomplete statistics, by 2025, the planned production capacity of local lithium battery companies in the mainland has exceeded 3TWh.
Synchronized with the expansion of production, power battery companies are financing.
In August 2021, CATL announced that the existing funds could not fully meet the needs of future business development, and the proposed fundraising would not exceed 58.2 billion yuan. In 2021 alone, China Innovation Airlines completed equity financing of 12 billion yuan, with a post-investment valuation of 60 billion yuan. On 29 December 2021, the SFC disclosed the application materials for the listing of Hong Kong stocks of China Innovation Airlines. In January this year, Hive Energy launched listing counseling. BYD is also promoting the independent listing of its Fordy battery.
And these funds will provide sufficient "ammunition" for the robbery war. Some insiders told Red Star Capital Bureau that it is expected that for a long time, the growth of power battery talents will not keep up with the demand for rapid expansion of the industry, and the salary package will also rise. "I judge that there will be no significant improvement in the next 3 years at least, and we will have to wait for this group of fresh graduates to grow up."
Red Star News reporter Wu Danruo
Edited by Tao Yueyang
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