A senior executive at Bentley Motors has called for greater measures to change perceptions of the automotive industry among young people, with a view to ensuring future skills pipelines, am-online.com reports.
Leonie Williams, head of manufacturing and labour relations at the firm told colleagues at the recent SMMT International Automotive Summit of her concerns that insufficient numbers of students were attracted to the industry.
As such, she urged employers to take steps to raise the sector’s appeal within schools, colleges and universities by offering work experience placements, in order to pique interest at an earlier age.
Citroen UK managing director, Linda Jackson was in agreement, stressing the importance of attracting young people that were familiar with the latest technological innovations. She bemoaned the fact that the industry didn’t appear “sexy enough” for young people.
Attracting talent and changing perception might be key discussion points for those seeking ways to improve business processes, assisting with the auditing of overall effectiveness. Future talent can, after all, help the sector grow and embrace opportunities.
Other topics raised at the Summit included autonomous driving and the newest materials being used to construct electric cars, bodyshopmag.com writes. In particular, BMW revealed how its new i3 will be the first vehicle which ‘weaves’ carbon fibre reinforced plastic into the car’s structure, making it significantly lighter than the usual steel bodywork.
