Although the government's budget for training future vehicle personnel continues to expand, and future vehicle companies have also been extremely active in recruiting personnel over the past year, it appears that support for training personnel through even bolder budget expansion will be needed.

The Korea Automobile Research Institute, the representative organization of the Automotive Industry Human Resources Development Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Automotive ISC), announced on the 6th that it conducted a survey on the current state of the automotive industry workforce in 2022 and published the 'Automobile Industry Human Resources Status Survey and Analysis Report' based on the results.

The government's budget for training future vehicle personnel has increased significantly from 10.5 billion won in 2021 to 31.5 billion won in 2023, but the report revealed that the workforce dedicated to future vehicle parts only accounts for 2% of the total workforce, with a shortfall of 790 people.

▲Automotive Parts Industry Personnel Status (Source: Korea Automotive Research Institute)

Looking at the main results of the survey on the current state of human resources in the automobile parts industry, out of the total number of employees of 253,935, the internal combustion engine vehicle/future vehicle combined group was the highest at 56.6% of the total, while the future vehicle exclusive group was the lowest at 5,142 people, or 2.0%.

By job type, production personnel accounted for the highest percentage at 67.9%. While research and development personnel accounted for the lowest proportion at 3.3%, technical personnel in a broad sense, including testing and evaluation and quality/production technology positions, accounted for around 23%.

Looking at the number of employees, the total number of people hired in the automotive parts industry in 2021 was 9,741, or 3.8% of the total number of employees. The number of people hired was the highest in the internal combustion engine vehicle-future vehicle common group with 5,356, and the employment rate was the highest in the future vehicle-only parts group with 6.1%.

Based on the number of personnel shortages, 3,267 people, or 1.3% of the total required personnel, are found to be in short supply. By job, the research and development field showed the highest shortage at 5.9%, and by industry, the future vehicle-only group showed a need for manpower support at 13.3%.

▲Causes of the talent shortage in the future vehicle sector (Source: Korea Automotive Research Institute)

The most common reason for the shortage of personnel in the future vehicle sector was 'difficulty in finding applicants with the necessary skills for the job' for the internal combustion engine-future vehicle joint and future vehicle-only sectors, while the most common reason for the shortage of personnel in the internal combustion engine-only sector was 'insufficient number of applicants'.

▲Education and training courses required for future vehicle component groups (Source: Korea Automotive Research Institute)

inspection Based on the results, in order to efficiently supply human resources to future car companies, it is necessary to reallocate human resources through training programs for current employees in fields where job transition is relatively flexible, and to promote new human resource training programs in fields where job transition is not easy, such as new technology research and development, to ensure timely supply.

In particular, the future vehicle-specific parts company group shows high demand for 'eco-friendly vehicle powertrain technology/research and development' and 'autonomous driving SW technology/research and development', and there is also high demand for training related to 'production technology and process' to actually mass-produce the results of research and development.

In the future, the Automotive ISC plans to continuously survey and analyze the workforce status and build a database to forecast the workforce supply and demand across the automotive industry.

In particular, in the 2023 survey, the scope of future car-related industries in the Korean Standard Industrial Classification (KSIC) will be expanded from the existing 9 to 26 (tentative) (new industry fields related to future cars), and a more detailed survey will be conducted on jobs related to the new future car industry to provide information so that job-specific education and training can be implemented to match supply and demand in the automobile industry.

Na Seung-sik, Chairman of the Automotive ISC (President of the Korea Automotive Research Institute), said, “The report is a meaningful result that allows us to understand the current state of human resources in the parts industry and the needs of the industry through the largest single survey in the automotive industry in Korea.” He added, “I hope that it will be used as useful data to resolve the mismatch between job seekers and employers in various fields such as the government, industry, education, and training institutions, and to cultivate future automobile experts needed in the industry.”

He continued, “In line with the paradigm shift to future vehicles, we will develop and improve appropriate National Competency Standards (NCS), and in the mid- to long-term, the future vehicle NCS will be utilized in the curriculum composition of regular education courses at each school.” He said, “We will do our best to contribute to the government’s goal of nurturing 30,000 future vehicle experts by 2030, including 10,000 SW-related personnel.”

Meanwhile, the 'Automobile Industry Manpower Status Survey and Analysis Report' was prepared as a unique project of the Automobile ISC (supported by the Ministry of Employment and Labor) to be used as basic data for training future vehicle manpower. It was announced through the '2023 Future Vehicle Manpower Training Project Briefing Session' to share the survey and analysis results with the government, academia, and industry to promote systematic and consistent manpower training projects.

This report is the result of a survey of approximately 2,000 companies engaged in the automotive parts industry (Korean Standard Industrial Classification 'C.303 Automotive New Parts Manufacturing'), which is expected to experience significant workforce movement due to industrial transformation, and an analysis by industry and job title.

Additionally, the report includes the results of an in-depth analysis (FGI) conducted on executives and human resources managers of domestic auto parts companies to understand the specific realities of the company's transition to future vehicles and to convey vivid voices from the field.