Auto maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is creating 1,000 new jobs at its Halewood, Merseyside facility – the supply chain could benefit substantially.
The production operator roles are open to people without previous experience, the spokesperson confirms.
The roles at Solihull were filled “within a few weeks”, with the fact that these involved shift working not a problem in terms of candidate interest.
On the question of supply chain jobs, JLR says that currently around 60% of its suppliers are UK-based, and a spokesperson for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) tells Recruiter“the general rule is that every job within an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] creates 7.5 jobs in the supply chain”.
This ratio comes from a March 2011 report from the multi-agency-backed Automotive Council, written by the University of Cambridge’s business school alongside SMMT and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
The report, entitled ‘Growing the Automotive Supply Chain’, also finds that “at present 80% of all component types required for vehicle assembly operations can be produced by UK suppliers”.
In total, the report says, there are around 2,350 UK-based automotive suppliers, slightly lower than the peak figure of 2,775 recorded at the end of 2005, but adds: “This is only a partial view of the supply chain, as around two thirds of vehicle makers’ inputs are from elsewhere in the economy.”
The wider supply chain includes a number of materials producers, as well as services such as transport and handling, catering and security.
Most companies operating in the automotive sector are small-and-medium-sized enterprises – with 2,000 sector business having fewer than 10 employees.
The SMMT adds that it is supporting Talent Retention Solution (TRS), an online service that supports redeployment and recruitment across advanced manufacturing & engineering industries, saying it is ”promoting it to members both the manufacturers and in the supply chain”.
