#The learning factory virginia software#

And as a part of this transformation, we have to look at every aspect of everything that we do across every function. JEN WALDO: So, look, transformations are messy. It's a pivotal moment, and the industry's reassessing everything, says Jen Waldo, Ford's chief people officer.

While companies hire certain workers, they'll also gradually fire others, as Ford did last month when it let go of 3,000 white-collar employees. Automakers can't completely let go of gas cars yet.

REZVANI: Expanding electric fleets, adjusting the workforce, it all goes to show America's path to an electric future won't be simple or straightforward. HYDE: Most companies I'm aware of have engineering centers in India that do nothing but writing software. A growing number of students in Hyde's classes are from China and India, a talent pool U.S.

And so they're finding talent farther afield. Both industry and academia are adjusting, even though this epic transformation is well underway. Every program gets delayed because of that. HYDE: We can't find anybody who is teaching systems engineering for software. But it's been hard to find the right professors. REZVANI: After class, professor Hyde, a former Ford engineer himself, explains that the department has been trying to offer more relevant courses. REZVANI: On this day, they're learning about China's market, the largest electric vehicle market in the world.ĪRTHUR HYDE: This is a competitive world. REZVANI: About an hour's drive from Ford at the University of Michigan, about 100 graduate students, many with industry experience, are shuffling into professor Arthur Hyde's automotive engineering class. And they've got their own learning to do to really sort of come along and, you know, continue to be relevant in the way the world is changing. Ford's chief learning officer, Craig DeWald, says universities that were once a reliable talent pipeline for the auto industry are still too focused on gas engines and transmissions.ĬRAIG DEWALD: The universities are recognizing they're behind. Problem is, there aren't enough of those engineers right now.

#The learning factory virginia software#

And who better to develop them than software engineers, says Krebs. REZVANI: That's because electric vehicles are essentially computers on wheels. Software engineers are hugely important in EVs. MICHELLE KREBS: There will be layoffs, but there will also be new hires because there's different kinds of workers that are needed. But certain white-collar engineering jobs, those tied to gas engines, won't go unscathed either, says Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive. They'll require fewer factory workers like Jones. As the auto industry goes all in on EVs, what's emerging is just how much of the auto workforce will change with it. But demand for its slick, new electric counterpart, the Lightning, is so high, Ford has been retraining workers like Jones to help ramp up production. He used to work on America's bestselling vehicle, the gas-powered F-150. REZVANI: That's 28-year-old assembly line worker Jaylin Jones, who's in the middle of his 11-hour shift. Yeah, high demand, so we got to put them out. And as NPR's Arezou Rezvani reports, white-collar workers may be among the first to feel the impact.ĪREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE: Here in a Ford factory in Dearborn, Mich., a stone's throw from where the company rolled out its Model T 100-some years ago, the future is taking shape. But to really embrace that future, the auto industry has to adjust its workforce. shot up 60% in the first few months of 2022. Though electric vehicles currently make up a sliver of auto sales, automakers have seen enough to know the future is, indeed, electric.