Networked cars, autonomous driving, electric cars and car sharing - the car industry is changing.This will also dramatically change jobs in the industry.
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Auto Manufacturing: In the classic production most changes are
expected. (Photo: BMW) |
When it comes to BMW, Daimler, Opel and Volkswagen, the word "Autobauer" usually comes to mind. The term is, however, really no longer correct. "The formula for the mobility of the future is 'software times services'", says Prof. Stefan Bratzel , Director of the Center for Automotive Management (CAM) at the Fachhochschule der Wirtschaft in Bergisch Gladbach. This sounds complicated at first. But it really only means that the car industry will do much more than build vehicles in the future.
The signs are already visible: corporations such as BMW and Daimler
already have their own car-sharing offers, which means that they are also
becoming a car rental company from the pure manufacturer. The
increasing networking turns cars into rolling computers. And assistants and
autopilots take the driver more and more work - and could even drive cars
all by themselves in the future.
As a result, major changes are also taking place in the car
industry. After all, all these new business models and autopilots
have to be developed: from company consultants, data experts and software
specialists. It is no wonder that the big automobile groups are
looking for such specialists . And even in the construction of the vehicles themselves will
change according to unanimous expert opinion much.
Major changes in production
To build a good electric motor, for example, requires knowledge other
than the design of classic combustion engines, says Bratzel. This
is because such an engine is only made efficient by good control
software. For this reason, programmers are mostly
required. And chemists will also play a much greater role in engine
development in the future, the expert believes. Because they know
what is going on in the battery of an electric motor - and also how to
optimize it.
But the biggest changes are probably in the classic production, that is,
where cars actually roll off the tape. As in many other industries,
even more robots will take on some work in the car industry. "We
generally see a high degree of substitutability for manufacturing
technicians," says Katharina Dengler of the
Institute for Labor Market and Professional Research
(IAB) of the Federal Agency for Labor.
4 percent are substitutable
The scientist examines jobs for their sustainability - that is, to what
extent they can be replaced by a machine. The result is partly
sobering: "64 percent of the jobs in the production engineering
professions can already be handled by computers or machines," explains
Dengler. Which is exactly what depends on the particular job:
cleaning work is not yet good enough for robots, they are already top in
car body construction.
Almost two-thirds of sustainability, however, does not mean that
two-thirds of the jobs in the factory centers of auto connectors will be
eliminated. "Jobs will only disappear completely in the rarest of
cases, they will change," says Dengler. It is also conceivable that
entirely new professions are created, or that jobs retain their title,
but in ten years they look quite different from what they are now.
With the triumph of robots, the entire production process of the auto
industry will also change. "In the coming years, we will see a
departure from the assembly line in the automotive industry, towards a
modular assembly," says Ralf Bechmann from the auditing firm Ernst &
Young. "In concrete terms this means, for example, that each
location of an automobile group will be able to produce any vehicle in
future, no longer just individual series and derived variants."
"Multidisciplinary work always more important"
In order for this to happen, the factories must also become more
flexible, including the employees. "In the future, it will no
longer be the case that every employee performs the same work step every
day," says Bechmann. "Instead there will be constantly changing
requirements and a frequent change of workplace."
And, of course, other specialists will also be sought in the
future. Not every production worker has to be an IT specialist , says Bechmann. Knowledge in mechatronics and software
development would be increasingly in demand. "Multidisciplinary
work is becoming increasingly important in the auto industry, just like
lifelong learning and high willingness to learn," says
Dengler. This applies to all employees, no matter in which job and
with which qualification.
"More flexible and thus more attractive"
This sounds like a lot of stress, but it does not have to be bad for the
employees. Bechmann assumes, for example, that companies in the
auto industry will in the future invest much more in further education
and also have to look after their employees. The competition for
qualified job entrants is great - and their number finally.
"In general, it will be more important for companies to be more flexible
and thus more attractive for companies," says Bechmann's colleague
Silvia Hernandez, meaning flatter hierarchies and alternative career and
working time models, better work-life balance and family leave, as well
as time-outs. "For example, we already have start-ups within large
corporations, with the corresponding impact on working practices and
corporate culture," says Hernandez
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