Workforce Development
UK auto apprentices surge 33% as industry confronts skills crisis
Britain's automotive sector added 1,700 apprenticeships in 2025 amid warnings that 61% of roles will require new skills by 2035. But can training programmes match the speed of technological change?
Britain's automotive industry has embarked on what amounts to an urgent reskilling campaign. The sector added 1,700 new apprentices in 2025, representing a 33% increase in total apprenticeships and a 28% rise in new starters, according to fresh data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Yet these figures, while encouraging, arrive against a backdrop that renders them less a victory than a first instalment on a debt the industry must continue to service for years to come.
The SMMT survey of major employers reveals that almost two-thirds of existing roles across the sector are expected to require new skills by 2035. High-voltage system capability, battery handling, coding, data analysis and artificial intelligence expertise now define the competencies manufacturers desperately need. This transformation occurs while Britain races toward a regulatory deadline requiring all new cars and vans joining British roads to be zero emission within less than a decade.
Developing new skills is mission-critical for the sector's competitiveness and growth as well as our ability to produce the next generation of cutting-edge zero emission and automated vehicles that will transform our roads and society
The knowledge transfer problem
The timing could scarcely be worse. Across automotive manufacturing plants in Europe and North America, tens of thousands of automotive workers are heading for retirement. At Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK's Burnaston facility alone, more than 300 technicians are approaching retirement. Engineers who commissioned production lines in the 1980s, who fine-tuned processes through decades of iteration, who hold entire manufacturing philosophies in their heads rather than in manuals, are leaving. With them goes something that, without intervention, may prove irreplaceable.
Stephen Heirene, Industry Consultant at Rockwell Automation, has worked directly on addressing this challenge through Toyota's hybrid apprenticeship programme developed in partnership with Derby College. The programme incorporates two years of classroom training with real hardware and simulation software alongside behavioural competencies. "Training must reflect real world applications," Heirene states. The Burnaston academy upgraded to current Rockwell equipment to ensure hands-on experience resembles what learners encounter in factories.
The Race to Reskill is Underway
This represents a fundamental shift in thinking about workforce development. The shift to electric vehicles and digital manufacturing creates not merely a skills gap but a knowledge chasm. Legacy manufacturers face what experts term open heart surgery on brownfield sites, attempting to transform century-old facilities into flexible EV production hubs without stopping output.
The mismatch between investment and training
Yet even as manufacturers acknowledge the scale of the workforce challenge, their spending patterns reveal a troubling inconsistency. The latest AMS/ABB Automotive Manufacturing Outlook Survey 2025, which polled 473 industry decision-makers spanning original equipment manufacturers, tier suppliers and engineering specialists across global markets, found that 31% are investing in automation and robotics compared to only 19% expanding employee training programmes.
Labour and skills shortages rank as the second-largest manufacturing challenge according to the survey, with 30% of industry decision-makers identifying growing labour costs and skills shortages as a critical concern. Traditional mechanical engineering capabilities, whilst still valued, are giving way to demand for specialists who can program collaborative robots, manage autonomous mobile systems and integrate artificial intelligence into production environments.
The survey data reveals that 47% of respondents identified the need for new skillsets, whilst an equal proportion highlighted specific technical skills shortages that existing training programmes have failed to address.
Educational institutions and internal development initiatives appear unable to match the pace of technological change. Some 44% of survey participants identified lack of education, training and qualifications as a barrier to building adequate workforce capability. This educational gap is compounded by competition from other industries, cited by 35% of respondents, as technology sectors beyond automotive vie for the same talent pool.
The data suggests many companies are choosing to buy their way out of workforce constraints rather than build internal capabilities. Whether this approach proves sustainable depends partly on labour market dynamics beyond the automotive sector's control.
Government support and industrial strategy
Against this backdrop, the UK government's commitment of over £100 million for technical excellence colleges represents a significant intervention. Chris McDonald MP, UK Minister for Industry, positioned the investment within the broader Modern Industrial Strategy framework. "Through our Modern Industrial Strategy, we're backing the sector with the skills it needs for the future with over £100 million for technical excellence colleges to train the next generation of workers, and investing billions through DRIVE35 to pioneer the green technologies of the future," McDonald said.
Industry has already committed more than £1 billion last year alone, supported by government's £4 billion DRIVE35 programme extending to 2035. The introduction in April of Levy flexibilities for short unit-style training aims to help more businesses deliver the high-skilled, agile and resilient workforce Britain needs to remain globally competitive. Ensuring access to flexible, high-quality and verified training for businesses of all sizes, particularly SMEs, across every region will prove essential.
Technology alone isn't enough. People are the most important part of this puzzle...The key is to combine their expertise with advanced tools to create meaningful solutions
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, framed the challenge in competitive terms. "The UK automotive industry is investing in both people and technology, offering diverse and rewarding apprenticeships for career starters and upskillers alike," Hawes said. "Developing new skills is mission-critical for the sector's competitiveness and growth as well as our ability to produce the next generation of cutting-edge zero emission and automated vehicles that will transform our roads and society."
The China speed problem
The competitive pressure Hawes references has become impossible to ignore. Legacy manufacturers face a structural disadvantage against new entrants, particularly from China. The edge enjoyed by companies like Nio and BYD stems not from superior robotics but from collapsed development processes and rigorous design for manufacturing principles. Whilst legacy vehicle producers operate on five-to-seven-year major model cycles, Nio has reportedly delivered new EV designs to market in approximately 120 weeks, roughly half the time.
Toyota has explicitly referenced the advanced and mature supply chain, logistics and workforce in China, noting this enables it to develop Lexus products at "China Speed", much faster than a similar model would take in Japan. The company announced a new wholly owned subsidiary in Shanghai that will make electric cars and batteries, investing $2 billion with the facility opening in 2027. Toyota specifically cited the workforce capabilities available in the Shanghai area as enabling this accelerated development approach.
Volkswagen has similarly embraced compressed development timelines, with the European ID Polo and ID Cross models having been developed in 36 months, a vast improvement on traditional development times. This approach has been applied to the ID Every1, which will be produced in Portugal in 2027.
People-centric digital transformation
What becomes clear from examining successful workforce development initiatives is that technology deployment succeeds only when it empowers rather than threatens workers. Industry leaders at the Automotive Manufacturing North America conference confronted this challenge directly, revealing divergent perspectives on how to balance technological ambition with human capability.
Fernando Bera, Engineering Supervisor at ZF Transmissions, articulated the fundamental dependency. "Technology alone isn't enough. People are the most important part of this puzzle," Bera said. "The key is to combine their expertise with advanced tools to create meaningful solutions."
Industry projections from Rockwell indicate that manufacturers must address a potential worker gap of 7.9 million by 2030, requiring not only automation investment but also workers with AI experience and soft skills like communication, adaptability and analytical thinking. This acknowledgement forces manufacturers to confront the ethical dimensions of digital transformation. Whilst technologies promise efficiency gains, they also threaten livelihoods.
The discussion at AMNA revealed that workforce development in smart factories extends beyond technical training. It requires understanding pain points, building engagement, creating pathways for advancement, managing cultural transformation and confronting difficult questions about the future nature of manufacturing work.
The automation paradox
No doubt, the automotive sector is reshaping jobs amid electrification, automation and geopolitical uncertainties. According to ManpowerGroup, 45% of employers expect headcount to remain flat in the third quarter of 2025, whilst 38% anticipate some hiring and 15% foresee cuts. Two-thirds of automakers expect to increase investments in process automation over the next year. Seventy-four per cent anticipate significant changes in the required skills for manufacturing and IT roles.
Nearly half of workers in the automotive industry, 42%, are concerned advancing technology could replace their role in the next two years. Retention and change management are cited as pressing challenges, with 37% of employers naming change management as their top workforce issue. More than half of workers say they have not engaged with a mentor in the past six months.
An estimated 10,000 Baby Boomers retire daily in the US alone, with more than 72% of employers fearing this trend will hit their HR strategies. Skills mapping and knowledge transfer programmes are cited as urgent priorities. Despite these risks, many firms remain passive. A wait and see approach dominates, but manufacturers willing to take calculated risks may secure top talent before the global economy rebounds.
In the US, 60% of EV sales in 2024 were hybrids, whilst in China plug-in hybrids made up 30% of sales. Employers are demanding employees who can demonstrate 'hybrid skills' that combine technical know-how with interpersonal and cognitive ability
Hybrid skills for hybrid vehicles
The product strategy shift toward hybrid vehicles mirrors employment expectations. In the US, 60% of EV sales in 2024 were hybrids, whilst in China plug-in hybrids made up 30% of sales. Employers are demanding employees who can demonstrate "hybrid skills" that combine technical know-how with interpersonal and cognitive ability.
Employers say Operations and Logistics at 30%, Engineering at 24% and Manufacturing and Production at 21% remain the hardest technical skills to recruit. At the same time, soft skills such as Ethical Judgement, Customer Service and Team Management are seen as irreplaceable by AI, with 29% of employers highlighting their importance. Yet more than half of workers, 56%, report receiving no training in the past six months, even as 91% of HR leaders agree building a culture of continuous learning is more important than ever before.
International benchmarks
Britain's apprenticeship surge occurs against a backdrop of significant international investment in workforce development. Hyundai's new facility in Bryan County, Georgia, spans 89,000 square feet and can train 824 workers simultaneously for electric and hybrid vehicle production. The centre deploys simulation lines and high-voltage labs to prepare employees for Hyundai's advanced manufacturing processes.
Tony Heo, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, positioned the training centre as essential to the company's employment trajectory. "This training centre gives us confidence that we'll have the trained talent needed to shape the future of mobility and American manufacturing, right here in Southeast Georgia," Heo said. Hyundai projects its Georgia operation will generate approximately 8,500 jobs by 2031.
The infrastructure includes a High Voltage Battery and Safety Lab, addressing what may be the most critical safety differential between traditional and EV manufacturing. Workers handling battery systems must understand electrical risks that rarely existed on conventional assembly lines. Beyond assembly training, the centre houses an Automation and Mechatronics Lab focused on programmable logic controllers, sensors, motion systems and industrial automation protocols.
The battery production imperative
As battery technology matures and manufacturing processes improve, the barrier to entry will shift from capital investment towards access to workers who understand these evolving systems. Some 66% of survey respondents expect passenger EV manufacturing to increase over the next year, driving demand for high-voltage systems and battery assembly expertise.
BMW's approach at its facility in Straßkirchen, Germany illustrates the scale of this transition. Milan Nedeljković, BMW's board member for production, noted that transformation cannot succeed without qualification and trust. By late 2025, the first high-voltage battery for testing rolled off the line at Straßkirchen. Series production will begin at the end of 2026, with up to 1,000 high-voltage batteries per day at peak. A total of 1,600 new, high-skilled jobs are being created in what has been a structurally weak region.
The human equation in smart factories
What the past year has demonstrated with clarity is that digital transformation in manufacturing relies heavily on effectively upskilling the workforce and capturing tacit knowledge through structured programmes. Conference speakers advocated upskilling programmes, design thinking, catalyst teams and approaches to capture retiring experts' knowledge into models and large language models. This represents a fundamental shift in thinking. Workers edify the artificial intelligence systems rather than the reverse. The technology serves as a vessel for human expertise, not its replacement.
Expect analysts to begin correlating workforce satisfaction scores with digital transformation success rates, recognising what shop floor veterans have long known: that technology only works when people want it to work. Manufacturers who crack the incentive puzzle will find their digital investments compounding, whilst those who ignore the human equation will find expensive systems underutilised and knowledge transfer programmes failing quietly.
The transition period challenge
The challenge for manufacturers will be managing the transition period when traditional skills remain necessary for existing production lines whilst new capabilities must be developed for emerging technologies. This technological trajectory suggests the industry is shifting from a workforce that operates machinery to one that manages intelligent systems. The transition introduces workforce adaptation challenges identified by 29% of survey respondents implementing smart factories, alongside concerns about cybersecurity and data protection raised by 34%.
Labour cost pressures are shaping strategic responses beyond simple automation investment. The AMS/ABB survey reveals that 39% of respondents rank labour as a top three cost concern, trailing only tariffs at 45% and raw materials at 42%. This positioning highlights how workforce expenses compete with macroeconomic and commodity pressures for management attention.
Automotive production prepares for the 2035 skills cliff
The 1,700 new apprenticeships announced by SMMT represent meaningful progress, yet the scale of transformation required dwarfs this initial response. With 61% of roles expected to require new skills by 2035, the industry faces a mathematical reality that current training expansion rates cannot address without sustained acceleration.
Hawes acknowledged the economic headwinds whilst expressing confidence in collaboration. "Despite the tough economic conditions, the industry remains convinced that, by working together, industry and government will build a world-leading workforce equipped to deliver a sustainable and prosperous future for the UK," Hawes said.
Whether that optimism proves justified depends on manufacturers' willingness to match their automation investments with proportional commitments to workforce development. The difference between success and failure may ultimately rest on a simple recognition: that the smartest factories in 2026 will be those that treat their retiring workers not as problems to be solved but as libraries to be preserved, not through passive documentation but through active encoding into the very systems that will train their replacements.
The technology exists. The methodology develops. Only time, and speed remain in question. And for an industry racing against regulatory deadlines whilst seemingly haemorrhaging institutional knowledge, time represents the scarcest resource of all.
