Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is to take on 300 apprentices across its three UK factories including Halewood in Merseyside. Tony McDonough reports
Jaguar Land Rover is to take on 300 apprentices at its three UK factories at Halewood in Merseyside and in the West Midlands.
JLR employs around 3,700 people at Halewood in Merseyside assembling the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. The company said it is looking to “expand its talent pool” as it pushes towards electrification of its vehicles.
This hiring drive means more than 800 people will join JLR’s early careers programmes in 2023, a 55% increase on last year’s figure. It represents a new record intake for the business.
The early careers roles open for application in January, with around 300 apprenticeship places adding to undergraduate and graduate positions.
Places are available across engineering, manufacturing, software engineering, data, logistics, and product development. All successful applicants enrolled onto courses in autonomous driving, electrification and more.
This programme includes apprentice degree apprenticeship programmes in digital technology and engineering for students pursuing careers in software engineering, data engineering and analytics or cyber security.
Apprenticeships at JLR range from Level 3 to Level 7 and typically require five GCSEs at Level 5 or above, plus at least two A-Levels including maths at Grade B or above.
JLR says it already has one of the largest apprenticeship populations in the UK automotive sector. There are around 1,200 apprentices currently in training across its academy.
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Through the academy, the company invests approximately £20m each year in lifelong learning and development. This announcement follows the launch of the company’s Future Skills Programme in September.
As part of its global upskilling drive. JLR will train 29,000 people in the next three years for its connected and data capabilities, and to support the rapid transition to electrification.
Dave Williams, JLR’s executive director of human resources, said: “We’re extremely proud of our record in supporting early careers, and our place as a top employer for apprentices.
“Anyone joining Jaguar Land Rover will be part of a company fully invested in lifelong learning and development. Our vision is to become the proud creators of modern luxury.
“We welcome people who are passionate about contributing to that successful transformation.”
Candidates can find out more about Jaguar Land Rover’s apprenticeship place by clicking here.