Car firms recruit military veterans
IMAGINE A CLUSTER of disciplined and skilled people with expertise in high-tech vehicles, aerospace systems, high-voltage electrics, logistics and management. Now know that 14,500 of these highly trained experts become available to the UK workforce every year, having left the armed forces. That’s why the British car industry gathered at Silverstone last week for the Mission Motorsport National Transition Day.
Regular Autocar readers will probably know Mission Motorsport – founded 10 years ago by former Royal Tank Regiment Major James Cameron – as the forces charity behind the brilliant Race of Remembrance.
In 2019, it created Mission Automotive in conjunction with the SMMT, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation and the Ministry of Defence to facilitate careers in the car industry for veterans.
“There’s such an obvious crossover between car makers and SMMT members and the skills of ex-forces personnel,” explained Cameron, “and the Transition Day is a key part of that, not just about recruitment but also networking and seeing what the private sector in automotive can offer.”
Moving on post-pandemic, Transition Day 2022 was an important opportunity to add new impetus for more than 30 automotive businesses – including Caterham, Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, Morgan and Stellantis, plus many smaller players – that see ex-forces personnel as a fine fit for automotive careers.
In its broadest definition, the UK car industry employs 680,000 people, 180,000 of them in manufacturing alone.
JLR is described by Cameron as the “exemplar”. Stirred by involvement with the Invictus Games for injured forces personnel, JLR has found 1098 jobs for veterans globally, 730 of them in the UK, since 2014.
“We’ve filled jobs not just in engineering but also in legal, PR, manufacturing, logistics… In fact, every single part of the organisation,” said Steve Lees, who juggles running Mission Automotive with his main role as armed forces engagement manager at JLR.
Cameron also sees emerging opportunities for forces expertise in highvoltage electric and hybrid car powertrains, especially as 800V systems go mainstream.
He explains: “Many forces personnel are very familiar with high voltage, even in the range of up to 1100 volts, because military equipment, like tank turrets, jet aircraft groundhandling units and radars, already use those.”
Stellantis is also supporting forces personnel, including spouses and dependants over 16, by giving free e-learning training courses at its Coventry Performance Academy.
“We’re just starting our journey with Mission Automotive, finding our way, but job opportunities are there, and opening the academy is a big step,” said Louise Gardner, its UK human resources boss.