JLR is hiring 150 maintenance technicians in the West Midlands to work on creating electric versions of all its vehicles.
This news comes after EY, in its latest regional economic forecast, said the West Midlands region’s GVA (gross value added) would grow by 1.6% a year from 2025 to 2028.
Fifty of JLR’s new technicians are for its Solihull plant manufacturing equipment for the Range Rover Electric, launching later this year.
The remaining 100 technicians will be based at JLR’s Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre (EMPC), in Wolverhampton, helping maintain advanced machinery for building battery packs and electric drive units.
Nigel Blenkinsop, JLR executive director of industrial operations, said: “With the transformation of our factories of the future now well under way, we’re now looking for talented technicians with a passion for sustainable innovation to help support our growth.”
JLR said it is rapidly upskilling its workforce for electrification, with more than 20,000 JLR colleagues and partners now trained in electrification and digital skills. This is part of JLR’s £3bn-a-year investment to transform its industrial footprint, vehicle programmes, autonomous, AI, digital and people-based technologies.
JLR’s Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton manufacturing facilities are being adapted to produce electric vehicles and their component parts, while the production of internal combustion and hybrid engines continues.
The first electric JLR car, launching later this year, will be the Range Rover Electric, built in Solihull, and now with 57,000 clients on the waiting list, said JLR. Also built in Solihull will be the first of three reimagined modern luxury electric Jaguars.
