Smart, electric and autonomous vehicles are no more just future tech, it is already in the present and transforming the automotive sector rapidly. The demand for growth and talent in the Indian automotive industry is increasing each day. Tech giants partner and expand to unite skills and expertise to enhance mobility of the future. One such successful joint venture is Osram Continental, formed by two equal and technologically advanced partners: OSRAM and Continental. To understand the demands and hiring trends in the automotive sector, Ankita KS from EFY spoke to Manjula Amod, Head – Human Resources, Osram Continental, India. Excerpts follow…
Q: Is ‘quality talent’ a challenge that the Electronics-Automotive industry are facing/going to face in India?
With the rapid changes in the technology landscape and the evolution of artificial intelligence, internet of things, machine learning and data analytics in automotive industry we already have a high demand of workforce in India. Currently, we can find potential talent in the Indian market, however, with most of the automotive suppliers expanding their footprint of research and development (R&D) in India, we will soon face challenges in hiring quality tech talents.
As the functions become more complex, and reduced time to market of the products gaining more attention from suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), development of model-based software is another area which is foreseen to have high demand in the future, along with skills related to tools aiding continuous integration of software, and test automation also are going to be in high demand in the coming days.
Q: Are you hiring or planning to hire talent for your electronics business at OSRAM Continental? If yes, can you share estimated numbers to be hired within the next 2 years?
Yes, since the inception of joint venture in November 2018, we have almost doubled the headcount in our Bengaluru office, and we continue to scout for quality talent in the space. Currently we have a variety of open roles in the development space.
Q: What are the skill sets that you see are in demand in the electronics automotive industry today?
Automotive electronics industry is in general moving towards being a software intensive domain. Requirements such as cyber security and functional safety are becoming the norm.
Standardization of software development in form of AutoSAR, is the key, and there will be high demand for AutoSAR integrators.
Q: If yes, what are the type of roles for which you’re planning to hire at OSRAM Continental? Can you share a brief idea about what these roles entail?
We will be looking to hire technical experts in AutoSAR
Q: What is the key technology skill sets that you’re seeking amongst the would-be hires?
Depending on the engineering discipline, we are looking for solid fundamentals in power electronics, electromagnetic interference (EMI)/ electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) awareness, excellent understanding of embedded systems, controller area network (CAN) and unified diagnostic services (UDS) protocols, scripting tools like CAPL and Python, functional safety, AutoSAR experience, knowledge of tools like DOORS, configuration and change management tools like MKS. Overall, we are also looking for people with a good understanding of how product development lifecycle works. Knowledge of ASPICE or experience in quality audits is an added advantage.
Q: How do you mainly hire? Is it through campus recruitment or direct hiring? Can you brief about the hiring process at Continental?
At OSRAM Continental, we offer creative freedom, a high degree of individual responsibility and decision-making independence. It does not matter if you are just starting your career or if you are an experienced leader. Varied tasks, challenging assignments as well as promising development opportunities awaits the prospective candidate.
Our hiring follows a simple three step process; Apply, Interview (which includes technical discussions, HR discussions) and finally offer. Most of our hiring is via lateral pool and primary source is the employee referral program.
Q: Do you mainly look for IITians or MTech MBA holders, or do you hire freshers from other Tier 2 and Tier 3 colleges?
We haven’t yet hired from campuses directly as our focus was the lateral pool. However, in the future, we will look at hiring fresh graduates from both IIT’s/NIT’s/ Tier 1 colleges and other engineering colleges.
