The talent gap is huge The "spring" of a new generation of Chinese automakers is up

What kind of automotive talent is needed for the development of China's auto industry? Throwing this question in different times may not give you the same answers.

From the advent of the first car, to Ford’s first production line production model, to Toyota production management, several major technological innovations have been like the tide of the sea for over 100 years, pushing the world’s auto industry into the era of automation and electrification. In general, relatively mature industries have relatively solid requirements for talents, and it is not easy to change the pattern of creativity.

In recent years, the global automotive industry is ushering in an entirely new variable. Artificial intelligence promotes the development of integration, the wave of electrification surging, unmanned ascendance, and shared travel are gradually gaining ground. As the new round of scientific and technological revolution is surging, the global automotive industry has undergone tremendous changes from thinking concepts to business models. The industry is ushering in a key shift for upgrading.

The vocational education training site in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, students are learning.

In the final analysis, the auto industry's competition is the competition of talents, and it will seize the unceasing source of local talents for the future development of the auto industry. According to industry insiders, how to activate the local pool of talent by changing the adaptability of the talent cultivation system and redefine the automotive talents in the new era will be one of the “winners and losers” that will determine the future of China’s auto industry.

"Like the personal computers encountered in the Internet in the 90s of the last century, at present, under the impact of the smart network-linked wave, the automotive industry will undergo disruptive changes, and the entire travel ecology will also usher in unprecedented changes." Intelligent network of automotive experts, Yang Diange, director of the Department of Automotive Engineering at Tsinghua University, told reporters that "just as the era created 'BAT', Ma Yun, Ma Huateng and Li Yanhong were created. This era is both a challenge to supply and demand for automotive talent and an opportunity for all automakers."

The talent gap is huge? The development of the industry must continue to “hematopoietic”

“The “auto four modernizations” are actually the process of gradually integrating automobiles from the traditional machinery manufacturing field to the electronic information internet field. This trend has brought about a revolution that affects the entire traffic and travel.” Yang Diange analyzed that “This revolution allows A traditional mechanical discipline such as the automobile industry has become more integrated and the industrial boundaries have become more ambiguous, leading to a diversified demand for talent.

He believes that in addition to the industrial transformation that requires the addition of a large number of new talents, the traditional automakers faced new changes in the industry and their capabilities and knowledge structure “become less compatible”. The superposition of the two factors has led to the current status of the "exclusive shortage of talents" in the domestic automotive industry.

“Under the era of smart cars, unprecedented levels of national policy, unprecedented scale cooperation, unprecedented breakthroughs in core technologies,” said Zhu Mingrong, executive vice president and secretary-general of the China Automotive Talent Research Institute, at the recently held CICV2018 Talent Forum. The "unprecedented" expresses the urgency of the reform of the automobile industry.

The madness of the automotive industry is creating a huge talent gap. In 2017, the "Guide to Manufacturing Manufacturing Development Planning" jointly issued by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that the total number of manufacturing professionals above designated size in China is 8.09 million, of which the top ten are One of the areas of energy-saving and new energy vehicle talent is only 170,000. The demand forecast data shows that in 2020, the demand for talent in this field will reach 850,000, with a gap of 680,000; in 2025, it will reach 1.2 million, and the gap may reach as high as 1.03 million.

In the area of ​​smart networking, the “China Intelligent Network Alliance Automotive Talent Development Report” shows that the total number of intelligent network-based auto talent in the entire industry is less than 20,000. In particular, the large gap in R&D talent has severely constrained the development of China’s intelligent networked vehicles.

“After research, domestic auto companies generally reflect that the shortage of talent is the norm in the auto industry. The reason is that the auto industry is developing too fast and the speed of personnel training cannot keep up with the needs of industrial development.” Zhu Mingrong bluntly stated, the total number of talents and the development of industrial powers The current situation is not matched, which is a major problem facing the development of China's auto industry.

“There is a common problem in the automotive industry all over the world. It is based on the talents cultivated in traditional automotive engineering education that cannot meet the actual needs of the current automotive industry.” Yang Diange said, “This is a worldwide problem. Need a revolution."

Colleges and universities to seize "knowledge highland" China is redefining automotive talent

According to Li Jun, chairman of the China Automotive Engineering Society, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and professor of the Department of Automotive Engineering at Tsinghua University, colleges and universities must assume the mission of "pre-research and pre-innovation" when companies focus more on product innovation.

Jun Li bluntly said: "Without knowledge, there is no technology. Without technology, there is no product. The Chinese car encounters precisely the problem of the knowledge level, and the problem of knowledge needs to be solved in universities."

The reporter found that at present, there are more than 155 universities and colleges and 2300 vocational colleges in China that have automotive-related majors. Although there are numerous colleges and universities that offer automotive-related majors, overall, regardless of the strength of teachers, curriculum, or practical training opportunities, there is currently a large gap between the training of domestic automotive talent and the industry.

Zhu Mingrong, who has been paying attention to the cultivation of automotive talent for more than a decade, pointed out that “at present, there is an urgent need to speed up the construction of a professional discipline system for vehicles that meets the needs of future talents and capabilities, and urgently needs to accelerate the establishment of a scientific and sound socialized personnel training service system.”

In fact, facing the changes in the future talent demand of the automotive industry, some domestic universities have taken the lead in the pace of change.

The Department of Automotive Engineering of Tsinghua University, founded in 1980, has delivered a large number of talents for the automotive industry in China. In 2016, the Department of Automotive Engineering at Tsinghua University was keenly aware of the “urgent requirements” for the reform of the talent cultivation method. It began the first batch of undergraduate major enrollment; in 2017, it began enrolling students according to the major categories of machinery and electronic categories. In Tsinghua's undergraduate training, we set a precedent.

“In 2016, the Department of Automotive Engineering was the first batch of large-scale enrollment pilots at Tsinghua University. All students studied in the major categories of machinery in the first year, and in the second year they were assigned to different majors in the automotive engineering department. We also innovatively proposed to put a third of our students in the electronics category.” Yang Diange revealed to reporters that the reason for this change was because the school realized that under the new trend of industry development, Education based on vehicle engineering has not met the needs, and students need more comprehensive knowledge."

In addition to the changes in student recruitment methods and training plans, the Department of Automotive Engineering of Tsinghua University has also set up a new vehicle engineering (electronic information direction) in the undergraduate stage, and added two masters in the fields of intelligent vehicles and advanced dynamics at the graduate level. By comprehensively updating the corresponding syllabus and training plan, the Department of Automotive Engineering of Tsinghua University is trying to cultivate more “new talents” that can adapt to the development of the future automobile.

“University education has played a 'basestone' in the whole process of personnel training, and the difference in students’ knowledge structure is often formed on university campuses. Therefore, the auto industry’s talents must adapt to changes and must first make corresponding contributions from university education. Change," Yang Diange said.

Theoretical practice and emphasis on youth “dreamers”

Young people represented by university students are the hope of the Chinese auto industry. For young people who are currently receiving professional education related to the automobile or have just entered the work position, they are undoubtedly the witnesses of the reform of the talent training in the automotive industry. In interviews with reporters, several youths mentioned the importance of "basing on the basics" and "re-practice".

Li Yujie, a sophomore at the Department of Automotive Engineering at Tsinghua University, said that the rich curriculum has given college students more choice.

“In the course setting, all aspects of the car's entire system, including electronics, programming, mechanics, etc., will be involved. At the same time, they can also take courses related to intelligent networked and new energy vehicles.” He is planning to engage in the research of heavy truck hybrid systems. It seems that extensive exploration of basic knowledge will make necessary preparations for future professional research.

Li Weiqing, a vehicle engineering professional who graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology and now a FAW-Volkswagen Rally team racing engineer, told reporters that while learning basic knowledge, it must also have a lot of practice to ensure that knowledge is used correctly and skillfully.

“The automotive engineering course mainly explains the working principle of various parts of the car and the definition and evaluation methods of some performance indicators. However, racing engineers need strong practical ability.” In his opinion, the most effective way for college students to get started is to “ More practice, more to face the problems on the field."

Li Xuezi, who is currently pursuing a master's degree in Imperial College of Technology in the United Kingdom and who has received a dual degree in automotive engineering from the Politecnico University of Technology, believes that there are differences in the practicality of the curriculum between domestic and foreign universities.

“The Automobile Institute of the Politecnico University is in the Fiat factory. About half of the teachers are employed in Fiat or have just retired from Fiat.” According to Li Xuezi, compared with domestic universities, the Politecnico automotive professional classroom The content of the study is more closely linked with the actual application. "For example, we are synchronizing when something Fiat is using."

For the youth car dream, the era of change is the best incubator. Zhu Mingrong pointed out that the vehicle discipline system of colleges and universities and the socialized personnel training service system must be “shared” and “linked”. “The growth of young talents needs multi-party cooperation to promote.”

Zhu Mingrong said that the current level of car talent training has received unprecedented attention. "We focus on building a new concept of discipline development, teacher team construction, teaching material construction, training base construction, and analysis of future talent demand trends. Cooperate with enterprises, schools, companies and schools, social training institutions, and establish double identity between the company's engineers and training teachers, etc., to achieve the full coverage of the growth needs of practitioners at different stages of their careers. Education and post-entry continuing education keep pace with the advancement of the automotive industry.” In his view, all parties in the auto industry have clearly felt a sense of urgency in cultivating talent. “Regardless of the crisis and the sense of urgency that arises, the training of automotive talent with industry demand as the core can never stop.”