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As the mobility sector continues to grow and evolve, with industries like automotive, transportation, energy and more all experiencing significant transformation, one thing remains clear: the fundamental skills and competencies needed for workers to succeed are still very much the same.
Job seekers looking to make a career shift may be hesitant to pursue work in the mobility industry if they feel underqualified or lack certain credentials. However, demand for “soft” skills, like communication, teamwork and adaptability, has risen dramatically over the past five to seven years. This is due to employers recognizing that having team members who can quickly adjust to new challenges is invaluable – an outlook that is especially true in the world of mobility where the nature of work can often be dynamic and unpredictable.
“Employers want people who can deal with ambiguity, who can be flexible with whatever technology is coming next,” says Jan Karazim, workforce program manager for the Workforce Intelligence Network. “They need workers who have a sense of curiosity, initiative to learn, and the ability to collaborate effectively.”
These types of soft skills are often more difficult to define and tougher for employers to teach. They are also seen as more transferable across roles and industries. That’s why employers have shifted how they look for and evaluate talent to focus on candidates who possess the soft skills required for success while being willing and able to learn the technical side of the work.
“Many employers we engage with just want someone ready to show up and learn,” says Laurie Huber, a project manager for the Workforce Intelligence Network. “You show me a trainable person and I can get them a job.”
In instances where more technical experience is required, many job seekers may not realize they also possess transferable skills they have gained elsewhere that can be applied to mobility jobs.
“We try to encourage job seekers not to let the technical aspects stand in the way of entering the mobility workforce,” says Karazim. “Vehicles, charging stations and even battery systems are all essentially big computers. If you’re comfortable with computers – and most young people are at this point – then you’ll be comfortable in the mobility sector.”
For those instances where additional training is needed, community colleges and other educational institutions are responding by offering courses that help students get up-to-speed and better prepared to meet the demands of mobility work. Henry Ford College, for instance, offers a 80-hour introductory course in battery technology with three distinct tracks: Automotive Service Technology, Electric Vehicle Certification, and Automotive Cybersecurity. The coursework provides foundational training that can be expanded upon as graduates progress in their careers.
Educational institutions are also partnering with organizations like SME, formerly the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, to create relevant, up-to-date curricula that equip students with the skills needed by employers.
It’s also important for job seekers to remember mobility isn’t just about cars or electric bikes. Careers in the mobility sector also include farm equipment, boats, drones and transit, as well as infrastructure maintenance and management for things like charging stations.
“There are seven unique career paths related to charging stations alone that job seekers can pursue,” says Huber. “There are numerous career paths available across the mobility sector that offer distinct opportunities for growth and development depending on what job candidates are interested in, their skill sets and the type of work they are looking for.”
Huber and Karazim both acknowledge, however, that this abundance of career options can also create its own set of challenges. Job seekers may struggle to easily identify where and how their skillsets and career ambitions best align with roles in the mobility sector.
These challenges are compounded by the lack of standardization around job titles and job descriptions across the mobility sector. Huber and Karazim point to instances where a candidate might apply for an “EV Technician” job expecting to work on EV cars when the role itself may be geared more toward charger maintenance and management.
“While maintenance technicians play an incredibly important role in keeping infrastructure operating efficiently, you can see the job title and job descriptions here don’t necessarily align,” says Karazim. “We tell employers all the time that if they want to attract people to this exciting evolution, they need to make job titles match what job seekers are looking for.”
Creating clear career pathways for students is essential and is something that can begin as soon as high school. Karazim and Huber see opportunities for mobility career pathways to directly integrate into school curricula much like certified nursing assistant (CNA) programs have in recent years. Robichaud High School in Dearborn Heights, for example, offers students clear pathways to graduate high school with a college certificate through its CNA program.
“Building more structured pathways helps students visualize a future in mobility – and really in any industry,” says Huber. “Yet these pathways need to maintain just enough flexibility to make it clear that the journey isn’t always a linear one and students have options to leverage the skills they learn in one area in entirely new and different ways elsewhere.”
Advancements in the mobility industry are already leading to new and exciting career pathways for job seekers – and that trend will not slow down. The future of work in mobility requires workers to possess essential soft skills, like adaptability, critical thinking, collaboration, and a desire for lifelong learning that can be blended with technical training to ensure the industry remains innovative for decades to come.