Employees on average are expected to get a salary increment of 20-25%, staffing companies and industry executives said. For high-potential employees, top performers and those in niche roles, it may go up to 50%.
In the relatively new EV and related sectors like battery manufacturing, experienced talent is often not readily available, even as more companies – both startups and legacy automotive manufacturers – enter the sector or expand capacity amid the government’s greener mobility push and strong demand.
Companies often have to invest in skilling their employees, and are offering higher salaries, increments and promotions to retain them. Salaries are at ₹25-50 lakh in mid-level positions, and ₹60 lakh to ₹1.2 crore in senior roles, according to Ciel HR Services.
“Profiles in sunrise sectors like EV will command a salary premium and hike in the future that the IT industry paid to retain its employees in the past,” said Lohit Bhatia, president of workforce management at Quess Corp. “People in production and shopfloor, as well as research and development, will command a premium of up to 50%.”
Altigreen is focusing on career growth opportunities and cross-functional exposure to retain talent, said Amitabh Saran, chief executive of the electric three-wheeler company. “We are rotating positions and have training programmes to retain talent,” he said. Yeshwinder Patial, senior director, HR, at MG Motor India, said it employs around 20% of the workforce in green jobs, which is expected to grow manifold by 2030. “We saw a 10% increase in green hiring since last year,” he said.
‘Workforce Seen Doubling’
Top roles in demand in EV companies include assembly line and shopfloor functions, research and development, data analysis, support functions like vendor management.
Roles in sales, marketing, supply chain management, customer support and regulatory compliance have also become crucial, requiring specialised knowledge in EVs, said Patial of MG Motor.
Experts said it is critical for EV manufacturers, component/battery makers, and related businesses to retain talent as they enhance capacity and set up new plants and R&D centres.
“The EV workforce is seen doubling in 12-18 months with people with the skills in production, design and engineering, assembly line and shopfloor the most sought after,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, chief executive, Ciel HR.
Nitty Gritty
Industry experts said the EV industry is faced with a range of design challenges due to its dependency on electrical components and software complexity.
Design teams need to be well-equipped with necessary skills as one cannot outsource embedded systems, software and power electronics that are all core to designing EVs. These complexities demand domain knowledge and advanced technical knowhow, industry experts said.
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