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Written by | Zhao Zhefeng, Editor | Yang Bocheng
According to the survey data of Zhaopin recruitment some time ago, more than 60% of the respondents believe that the difficulty of job hunting during this year's Spring Festival is higher than in previous years. Why is it difficult?
In 2021, with the large-scale layoffs in education and training, real estate, the Internet and other industries, the supply and demand state of the job market has undergone a sharp reversal. At the same time, coupled with the number of efficient graduates reaching a new high (breaking through ten million for the first time), the economy entering a downward cycle, the outbreak of the epidemic and other factors, many job seekers fell into a situation of "one job is difficult to find" this spring, and incumbents no longer jumped to try to "jump ship".
In the face of unprecedented competitive pressure, the beat workers directly called "gold, silver and four disappeared".
But in such a big environment, the automotive industry practitioners are particularly special. With the help of technological changes in the industry, their value soared in this year's job market, and they became the "fragrant food" that major enterprises competed for for a time.
There are roughly three macro reasons for this phenomenon.
1. The demand for talents has increased significantly
According to the data of the Pulse Talent Think Tank, among the new economy industries with the largest number of new jobs in 2021, the new energy automobile industry ranked second, and the number of new occupations increased by 365% year-on-year.
2, the supply is seriously short
The "new four modernizations" put forward new requirements for automotive talents, and the industry needs a large number of composite talents with "both soft and hard". However, the current situation is that there are not enough talents in car companies, the talent training system of automobile professionals in colleges and universities is relatively backward, and the talents transferred from the Internet and other industries are also unable to adapt to new roles in the short term.
3. Supply and demand do not match
According to the "Revelation of New Energy Vehicle Talents" released by the Pulse Research Institute, the most demanded positions in the automotive industry in the first half of last year were research and development positions such as perception algorithm experts, AI platform technology experts, and deep learning engine framework research and development engineers. However, the position with the largest delivery volume is non-R&D positions such as project management, HR, and business development, and there is a disconnect between supply and demand.
The above three reasons have caused an extreme shortage of talents in the automotive industry today.
However, from a macro perspective alone, it is far from enough to show how "hungry" car companies are for talents.
So next, we will focus on the micro, combined with the real stories of the auto practitioners around me who have recently had job search experiences, to explore the deep reasons behind this phenomenon and the interesting details in it, as well as the challenges and uncertainties they will face. Talking about how to double the salary, Wang Hua's tone is full of stories.
Wages have not risen for several years, and they have directly doubled after job hopping
01 Wang Hua
Company changes: traditional car companies and large car suppliers
Job change: Engine engineer develops a new electronic architecture
Wang Hua, 28 years old, majored in vehicle engineering, graduated in 2016 and entered a domestic car company to engage in engine research and development. In his college years, vehicle engineering was still a popular major, and although the salary after graduation was not as good as that of the Internet industry, it was at least stable.
However, no one expected the "cold winter" to come so suddenly. In 2018, the mainland passenger car market suffered the first decline in the past 20 years. What happened after that everyone knows, 2019 continued to decline, and the epidemic struck in 2020.
This has made Wang Hua a little depressed in the past few years, and he has complained to the author more than once that "for several years, the salary has hardly risen", "this year the company has lost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the year-end award is definitely no play".
However, all this has completely changed with the rise of new energy vehicles and the transformation of the "new four modernizations" of the industry.
In 2021, the sales of new energy vehicles in the mainland soared by 1.6 times year-on-year, and Wang Hua, who has a keen sense of smell, quickly discovered new opportunities. It was also in that year that Wang Hua began to be interested in contact with electrification-related projects at work, while using his spare time to teach himself relevant knowledge and skills.
For this change, Wang Hua explained that "it can be clearly felt that the industry's demand for traditional energy talents is decreasing, so it is decisive to transform while young people have strong learning ability." ”
After a period of precipitation, finally in March this year, Wang Hua ushered in a big turnaround in his career. The new unit is a large domestic automobile supplier, in which he is responsible for the development of the power domain of the electronic architecture. As for the salary, it told DoNews that it "almost doubled compared to before."
Regarding the overall job search environment this year, Wang Hua said very calmly, "As long as it is an engineering background, it is easy to find R & D positions, but like some liberal arts positions, such as administration and project management, some companies are laying off employees." But a lot of times, like project management, can be taken over directly by engineering, so there is a lot of demand for technical developers right now. ”
Although those who double their salaries after job hopping like Wang Hua are in the minority, the talents in the automotive industry are indeed "appreciating" rapidly. A car company HR once told the media that "even for the most ordinary positions, the comprehensive salary increase (cash + stock) can reach 50%, and there are also software-related positions that offer 2 times the salary." ”
The reason is that, in addition to the "imbalance between supply and demand" mentioned above, competition from Internet manufacturers and technology companies has further increased the value of talents in the automotive industry.
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Zhu Mingrong, chairman of the Automotive Talent Research Association, previously pointed out that "the competitors that a new energy vehicle company has to face are not limited to the automotive circle, they have to compete with Google, Apple, Microsoft, Huawei, Ali, Tencent and other big manufacturers." Without a strong attraction, it is difficult to break through. ”
Although the former owner did not give Wang Hua a rich material reward, he was still grateful whenever he mentioned his previous work experience: "My understanding of the car, the understanding of the development process, and the understanding of the upstream and downstream relationships of the industry were all accumulated in the previous work, and a basic knowledge framework was formed at that time." Without previous work experience, I wouldn't have found my current job. ”
This also explains the reason why the above-mentioned "talents who have moved from industries such as the Internet to the automotive industry are difficult to meet the demand in a short period of time".
Car companies rob people to "kill crazy", professional is not right
02 Zhou Rui
Change in employment: Fresh graduates of engine majors, have signed a contract with a new force car company
The "new four modernizations" not only allow existing car companies to have more talent needs, but also allow a large number of new brands to rise, such as Tesla and "Wei Xiaoli". And these new brands are also thirsty for talents.
After graduating from the bachelor's degree in 2016, Zhou Rui worked in an independent brand car company, returned to campus after doing engine research and development for about 3 years, and will complete his master's degree this year. In the recent spring recruitment of car companies, he successfully signed a contract with a new force car company as a fresh graduate.
Speaking of the slightly magical experience some time ago, Zhou Rui still remembers vividly: "These car companies are like killing crazy, I have not yet graduated, let me go to their interview in the form of social recruitment, even if the major is not right." I have been studying engines since I was an undergraduate, but during this time, HR often asked me to apply for their electrification positions. In addition to the OEMs, I was also contacted by some suppliers, and even several self-driving companies. ”
Hearing this, the author has some doubts, the engine and automatic driving at first sound a difference of 18,000 miles, is it that the current enterprise recruitment is so casual?
In this regard, Zhou Rui replied, "I can obviously feel that they are very short of people, and the strategy is to recruit people first, and then say if it is okay." Just like my position, it is a high-voltage architecture, which belongs to the category of three-electric system, which is completely different from what I learned when I was in school. But the company will let me learn this knowledge now, and they will have unified training after I join the company. ”
"When I first graduated from undergraduate, famous car companies would hardly come to our school to hold job fairs, and I went to a few job fairs in other places to find a good job. At that time, I couldn't imagine that now I would be grabbed by so many companies. Recalling the previous sad past, Zhou Rui was very emotional.
However, he also stressed that although car companies now look a bit "hungry", it is not completely without selection thresholds. "The main automotive major is more popular, at least it must be a mechanical related major, but the direction of subdivision is not so important." In addition, the work experience of car companies is also a big plus."
Car companies in second-tier cities take first-line salaries, less money and more close to home
03 Xu Ying
Company changes: traditional car companies autonomous driving companies
Job change: Or do autonomous driving research and development
What does the ideal job of a hit worker look like? It is nothing more than "less things, more money, and close to home." In this year's "Gold Three Silver Four", Xu Ying found such a job that is infinitely close to the ideal of hitting workers.
Like the above protagonists, Xu Ying is also a vehicle engineering major, and after graduation, she worked in a well-known self-owned brand main engine factory, responsible for research and development related to automatic driving.
But the difference is that Xu Ying is a girl who pursues a stable and comfortable working environment in her heart.
Because the former owner's famous "militarized" management style in the circle made her unbearable, so after 2 years of work, Xu Ying jumped to a beijing autopilot company. This spring, seeing that there was a good autopilot company in her hometown (a second-tier city in North China) recruiting people, Xu Ying jumped ship again.
Talking about salary, Xu Ying said, "Although (automatic driving) is a wind outlet position, because I am from Beijing to my hometown, the salary has hardly increased, which is equivalent to translation." But even so, it is also a high income in the local area, and it is also a salary increase from another point of view. ”
Public information shows that the autonomous driving company where Xu Ying worked obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in C round financing last year, and this year also reached a strategic cooperation with an international auto supplier giant to jointly develop an automatic parking system, and the development prospects are very good.
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When it comes to the reasons for job hopping, Xu Ying said that "the salary is secondary, mainly to make a comfortable one." Before the pressure in xx (a certain main engine factory) was very large, the management method was not adaptable. Later, when I went to Beijing, it was also a transition. Now the company is easier to manage and can often go home. It can be seen that Xu Ying is very satisfied with her current situation.
However, it is conceivable that working in a fast-growing autonomous driving company will certainly not be less workload. And the so-called "less money and more close to home", the first item can not be satisfied.
But in fact, for most job seekers, it is already a great fortune to have a comfortable working environment and a good income, and at the same time to be able to go home often. In the real sense, the work of "less money and more close to home" is almost non-existent in reality.
Anyway, everywhere is rolled, it is better to go to a place with high wages to roll
04 Han Ming
Company changes: traditional car companies new force car companies
Job change: Still work as an NVH engineer
I heard that Han Ming recently jumped ship to a new force car company with good development prospects, and his friends around him were happy for him. But when it comes to the reason for job hopping, Han Ming considered it very practically, "I didn't think about it so much, I just thought that this salary was not bad." Now car companies are very rolled, where can not escape overtime, since this is the case, it is better to go to a place with high wages to roll. ”
It is reported that after Han Ming's job hopping, the salary increased by more than 50%, and the position was still an NVH engineer (responsible for handling the noise and vibration of the vehicle). Although it is not a so-called "outlet" position related to intelligence or electrification, due to the transformation of the nature of the enterprise, Han Ming still got a good salary.
After several rounds of financing, the new power car companies that can survive to the present are almost all rich and powerful owners. And because the new brand itself has poor anti-risk ability, it needs rapid development in the early stage of establishment to survive, so it is more fierce than traditional car companies in terms of grabbing people. For example, Xiaomi Auto, which opened recruitment some time ago, gave a salary level that was 40% higher than the industry average.
When asked about future plans, Han Ming also behaved more rationally: "Although this brand seems to have a lot of innovative things, it is not easy to say what it can do in the future, the new brand is very uncertain, and it is not expected that it can develop to what extent, but can only take one step at a time." ”
Car companies have developed their own research and development, and they must recruit people from suppliers
05 Zhao Lei:
Company: An international auto parts giant
Position: Brake System Engineer
Although Zhao Lei himself did not jump ship, he could also feel the drastic changes in the current industry as he watched the workstations of his colleagues around him move one by one.
"Our company has had a lot of job hopping recently, and the salaries outside are very high, especially related to intelligent driving. Like Weilai, Ideal, Zhizi, and Extreme Krypton, their current salaries are slowly aligned with the Internet. ”
Zhao Lei works for an international auto parts giant that provides ESP (Body Electronic Stability System) for 70% of new cars in The country, where he works as a brake system engineer.
In addition, Zhao Lei believes that the subversion of the new four modernizations to the automobile industry is far beyond the imagination of outsiders: "In addition to intelligent driving and smart cabin direction, like the chassis is now derived from the intelligent chassis suitable for automatic driving (the final solution is the wire control chassis), which will also spawn a lot of new positions." ”
As for why car companies frequently recruit people from suppliers, Zhao Lei feels that it is related to the current trend of self-research.
Image source: unsplash
"Intelligent this piece, the main engine factory wants to do it themselves, rather than buying alone, so it will poach a lot of supplier engineers." Even if not all of it is done by themselves, the trend behind is that the supplier is only responsible for the implementation of the part, but the decision (that is, the specific functional design of the product) is listened to by the main engine. ”
Next, he gave a specific example to illustrate: "For example, ESP, although the main engine factory will not establish a separate production line, because there is no cost advantage, but the functional design is done by the main engine factory, but no matter how the functional design changes, the supplier's products as long as they can brainlessly respond to brake requests." ”
"If the main engine factory wants to adjust the functional design of the product now, it needs to pull Bosch together to discuss, and the software cycle is relatively long." However, in the new model, if the OEM wants to change the functional design, or directly replace the supplier, it does not need to be subject to Bosch, which meets the needs of the rapid iteration of the OEM. Zhao Lei further explained.
It can be seen that with the intellectualization will become the core competitiveness of automotive products, those technologies that have not been paid much attention to in the past, such as intelligent driving, chips, car machine systems, etc., now car companies must grasp the dominant power, do not want to give the "soul" to suppliers, resulting in the "robbery war" between the main engine factory and suppliers continue to escalate, which is also a major reason for the rising value of talents in the automotive industry.
The challenges and worries behind job hopping with a high salary
At present, the automotive industry is in the midst of drastic changes. For those involved, the upheaval brings a lot of opportunities, but more uncertainty. So behind the high-paying job-hopping of car workers, what challenges and hidden worries will be faced? It is mainly divided into the following four aspects.
1. Challenges posed by technological transformation
Whether it is from the traditional energy field to the new energy field, or from the hardware field to the software field, for technology developers, it means that the knowledge base needs to be completely updated.
Wang Hua said: "This industry is very involuted, and if you want to go up, you have to learn. I am currently studying the basics of electronics, including electrical signals, controllers, etc. Of course, there are also some who do not want to roll but are afraid of being eliminated, so they directly transfer to procurement of such positions to the pension, although it is easier, but the upper limit of development is relatively low. ”
Moreover, because the current new energy vehicle technology is rapidly iterating, car companies cannot wait for R & D personnel to learn well, but "learn by doing" in the work, so in the process of project promotion, there will be many challenges. Wang Hua also admitted frankly, "When I first started to contact the project, I did feel a little obscure. ”
2. Challenges posed by the new environment
The automotive industry chain is a very large system, which contains various types of enterprises, and the organizational structure and management style between different enterprises are not the same. For job seekers, entering a new company requires not only business challenges, but also adapting to the new work environment.
"After accumulating some experience in this (supplier), I still want to return to the car company in the future, mainly because I have adapted to the previous environment and interpersonal relationships." And before in the main engine factory we are considered party A, the project time point is our fixed, the pressure is not so big. Now after becoming Party B, I have to listen to everything," Wang Hua said.
In fact, the reverse is also the same, for example, those job seekers who jump from suppliers or Internet companies to car companies will also face similar problems. For them who are accustomed to flat management, the traditional management mode of car companies has caused them to take sides and fierce infighting, which also makes it difficult for them to adapt.
3. The hidden worry that talents are approaching saturation
In the medium term, as automotive intelligence and electrification talents are gradually saturated, the market supply and demand relationship may change in the next few years. At that time, the high salaries of automotive talents may be unsustainable.
Previously, the training system of automotive talents in colleges and universities was disconnected from industrial development, resulting in a huge talent gap. But in the future, the situation will improve.
In the "Catalogue of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities" formulated by the Ministry of Education, a new "intelligent vehicle engineering" major has been established, and many colleges and universities have adjusted the direction of talent training.
In addition, car companies themselves are also strengthening the cultivation of relevant talents. For example, at present, including FAW, Dongfeng, SAIC and other car companies, they have established their own intelligent networked automobile talent related training system.
Among them, Dongfeng Group founded the Dongfeng Science and Technology Innovation Academy in December 2021, focusing on the four major areas of "intelligent networking, new energy, software-defined vehicles, and digitalization", and plans to cultivate 1,000 new talents within 5 years.
SAIC Motor has also cooperated with Tencent Travel to carry out the "Digital Talent Training Project", focusing on the five major sections of "digital operation, product development and design, automotive + Internet, information security, and data analysis and mining", and has trained more than 3,000 internal employees so far.
4. Uncertainty of the outlet
In the long run, for talents in popular directions such as intelligence and electrification, they are more worried about whether the expansion rate of the new energy vehicle industry in the past two years has exceeded the actual demand. Will it repeat the mistakes of the Internet industry in the future and face the risk of layoffs?
For example, the hottest automatic driving at present, if the technology can not break through the bottleneck and achieve commercialization, and the capital no longer follows up, then where should the relevant talents go?
In general, there are two sides to everything. High salaries mean high pressure, and the outlet can also mean bubbles.
For the current automotive practitioners, while grasping the trend of industrial change, they must also focus on creating their own long-term core competitiveness. After all, any outlet will disappear one day, and only the hard power of individuals can benefit us for life.