"Future Car Technology Workforce Needs 40,000 More by 2028"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] It is anticipated that the supply chain and workforce structure of the automotive industry will rapidly change in the future, with approximately 40,000 additional skilled workers needed in the future car industry within the next six years.

On the 8th, the Korea Automotive Technology Institute and the Automotive Industry Human Resources Development Committee released a report titled "The Impact of the Future Car Industry Transition on Employment."

According to the report, as the traditional automotive industry transitions to the future mobility industry, the supply chain and ecosystem are shifting from being centered on internal combustion engine parts to focusing on electric and electronic components such as batteries and motors.

The report forecasts that global sales of eco-friendly vehicles (hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric, and hydrogen cars) will grow from approximately 13.8 million units this year to 57.7 million units by 2030. Last year, global electric vehicle sales surged by about 112% compared to the previous year, reaching 5.4 million units, and are expected to reach 28.5 million units by 2030.

Additionally, with accelerated development of autonomous vehicles, the global autonomous vehicle market is expected to maintain an annual growth rate exceeding 40%, expanding from $6.4 billion in 2020 to $1.1204 trillion by 2035. Consequently, about 160 million autonomous vehicles are projected to be sold worldwide by 2030. The domestic autonomous vehicle market size is also expected to grow at an annual rate of over 40%, increasing from 150.9 billion KRW in 2020 to 26.1794 trillion KRW by 2035.

However, the domestic parts industry's localization rate and technological level for future car parts are significantly lower compared to internal combustion engine vehicles.

While the localization rate for internal combustion engine parts is as high as 95%, the localization rates for electric vehicle parts stand at 68%, hydrogen vehicles at 71%, and autonomous driving software at 38%, with the technological level reaching only 78.8% compared to advanced countries.

Furthermore, the number of internal combustion engine parts companies is predicted to decrease by about 500 by 2030. In contrast, electric and electronic parts companies and hydrogen vehicle parts companies are expected to increase by approximately 350 and 400, respectively.

Accordingly, securing electric and electronic engineers and software specialists is analyzed to be crucial for the competitiveness of the future mobility industry market.

The report notes that in the United States, the workforce for eco-friendly vehicles, including electric cars, increased to 274,000 by 2020. Japanese automaker Toyota has secured 18,000 software specialists by filling over 40% of its new hires with software experts starting this year.

In South Korea, as of 2018, the workforce related to eco-friendly vehicles totaled 42,443, autonomous vehicles 5,021, and infrastructure-related personnel 3,068, amounting to a total of 50,532. The number of software personnel is only 1,000.

The report analyzed that 46.8% of parts companies and 47.4% of employment are classified as groups requiring business restructuring during the future car transition process. It revealed that domestic companies are facing difficulties due to a shortage of specialized personnel in the development of future car technologies.

South Korea's future car industry technical workforce is increasing at an average annual rate of about 74.7%. However, considering that workforce demand will reach 89,069 by 2028 (Green Car 71,935, Smart Car 11,603, Infrastructure 5,531), an additional 38,537 future car workers will be needed compared to the current level.

The report emphasized the need to stably promote policies such as training new master's and doctoral-level personnel in future car control and software, and nurturing 90,000 talents in new growth industries, to secure a large-scale specialized future car workforce within a short period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.