Re- and Upskilling
Paying for the Future
Automakers like Mercedes-Benz have been investing billions in recent years in upskilling their employees in new tech topics such as AI and data.
Mercedes-Benz
The major automotive players are investing significant sums in re- and upskilling their people. With increasing use of AI, career paths are changing, and the right further training is becoming even more crucial. This is especially challenging for medium-sized companies.
According to Reuters, BMW invests 400 million euros every year in its training programmes. Moritz Kippenberger, Vice President for Personnel Services, Recruitment and Qualifications at BMW, assumes that through additional training, over 90 percent of the required skills can be achieved based on the existing abilities of the employees. Lifelong learning is therefore an important keyword. Volkswagen is also heavily investing in qualifications; in 2023, the company spent a total of about 399.3 million euros on further training without vocational training.
Artificial intelligence, in particular, is driving the demand for qualification measures further. "Digitalisation and AI mean that companies need to re-evaluate their processes and rethink their qualification concepts," says Simone Kauffeld, Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology at TU Braunschweig. The trend is also towards shorter training sessions that focus on specific further learning for the job. Lengthy qualifications are becoming rarer, also because it is often unclear how job profiles might change in the near future.
AI and data experts are in demand
For instance, Mercedes-Benz announced back in 2023 that it plans to invest over 2.2 billion US dollars in employee training by 2030. With corresponding programmes, employees from production, production-related areas, and administration are to be specifically further trained to become data and AI specialists. From the perspective of the Stuttgart-based car manufacturer, the further development of digital skills within the workforce is crucial for the future of the company.
Especially now, as many repetitive tasks are eliminated by generative AI, qualification becomes even more important so that people can focus on more creative, value-adding, or strategic tasks. This could change many career paths in the long term. "AI is far more than an automation tool - it is increasingly developing into a co-worker with whom we enjoy collaborating. For this collaboration to be successful, both humans and AI must continue to develop," states Corina Apachite, Program Head Artificial Intelligence and Key Technologies at Continental.
Retraining programmes should therefore not only aim to prepare people for new tasks but also strengthen their ability to interact efficiently and creatively with AI. According to Apachite, this includes not only building AI competencies but also focusing on collaboration with AI. Training should promote dealing with AI as a partner in decision-making processes and creative workflows, says Apachite.
In addition, interdisciplinary learning must be at the forefront: The aim is to combine technological knowledge with domain-specific skills to fully exploit the added value of AI, especially in the automotive industry. "Only in this way will people be enabled to use AI not just as a tool, but as a true innovation partner in value-creating processes," adds the tech expert.
Can medium-sized businesses catch up on new topics?
The Tier 1 supplier has established the Continental Institute for Technology and Transformation (CITT) as a competence centre for digital transformation and qualification. Continuing education programmes are offered here for all qualification levels. This applies to both Continental employees and external customers and partners who can prepare their employees for the AI-supported working world there. The practical training takes place in training facilities such as TechSpaces for 3D printing, robotics, and augmented reality.
Progress from the group also finds its way into the training world, such as the AI awareness training developed in collaboration with the Continental AI Lab in Berlin. "The CITT actively supports the industry in shaping change by offering innovative learning formats and strategically promoting AI competencies," reports Corina Apachite.
This can be an important contribution, as small and medium-sized suppliers often struggle to keep up with the requalification of their team at a comparable level due to a lack of resources. For SMEs, it is therefore advisable to rely on structures such as digital centres or local transformation networks like ReTraSON, says Simone Kauffeld. It has proven beneficial, for example, for employees in networks to learn from each other with other companies.
Especially with regard to AI and specifically to Large Language Models (LLM), she sees a significant gap in the automotive mid-sized sector. "Although some companies have already understood the relevance of the technology, many are in a waiting position. It is important not to wait for the big strategy, but to start and gain experience - and to offer training and clear guidelines for AI use," says Kauffeld. Currently, however, in many companies, due to market developments, the tendency is to focus on reducing jobs rather than on current qualification approaches.
From knowledge to impact
The way and formats in which learning takes place also determine whether investments in further training are actually worthwhile. "It is known from surveys that often only ten percent of newly learned further training knowledge reaches the company. Due to the typical transfer gap, it remains unclear how the newly learned could be practically applied. The trend towards digital learning platforms, where employees learn on their own initiative, has not helped much," explains Kauffeld. While some people cope well with this form of learning, this is not the case for many others - thus these approaches lack efficiency.
Instead, Simone Kauffeld advocates for focusing on transfer projects where work and learning merge. "The knowledge input from external sources is directly applied to work on practical projects internally over a longer period and thus become 'change makers'," says the expert.
This concept is also adopted by Mercedes-Benz with its part-time qualification programme D.Shift. Employees from production who are interested in data and AI can apply for a 'Digital Challenge' and retrain as data specialists. During the programme, they receive intensive support and guidance, already work on concrete practical projects, and complete internships. At the end of the programme, they transition to the target positions defined and established at the beginning.
This article was first published at automotiveit.eu
