IT workers laid off from big tech firms have a new suitor—the auto industry

Tech layoffs have dominated economic headlines as companies cut positions—but Silicon Valley’s loss is the auto industry’s gain. IT workers changing positions might find their next job in cars.

The automotive sector’s desire for IT workers is related to the narrow tech job market. Despite large firm layoffs, CompTIA VP of industry research Seth Robinson told IT Brew, workers are finding positions in other sectors.

“The demand for technology workers is still outpacing the supply, even though more supply is being pumped into the system,” Robinson said. “Again, this is because the appetite for technology and the need for using technology as a competitive differentiator is only continuing to grow.”

Shorting the talent market. Cyber talent shortage is affecting every industry. Nadine Moore, a partner with Boston Consulting Group, told IT Brew that she sees challenges to companies across the board, including skills, education, and price—and that making adjustments on those bases is still of primary importance to any company with tech needs.

“I think that the automotive [companies] are thinking differently,” Moore said. “It’s not just hiring from their competitor neighbor, it’s actually thinking, ‘How do I go into tech? Is the blip in the tech economy right now an opportunity to grab talent?’ That would be a strategy I’d certainly think about.”

That’s good for IT workers looking to get into a different style of tech without the risk of joining a startup. The auto industry is in the midst of a major evolution—electric vehicles replacing internal combustion engines, autonomous vehicles, and more. Car software, too, is moving fast and redefining how we understand the function of the car, making it more of a computer or mobile device.

Now, car companies are desperate to beat the competition to the next generation of vehicles and the tech job market is, despite the layoffs, still tight.

“The need for talent relative to electrification, modern manufacturing, connectivity, et cetera, is very, very high,” Stephen Beck, cg42 founder and analyst, told Business Insider in January. “The war for talent in the automotive industry is still raging and the talent pool is still relatively small.”

Culture shift, culture shock. There are still major obstacles to overcome as the industry changes. Gartner analyst John Davenport told IT Brew that for tech workers changing sectors from Silicon Valley to automotive companies there may well be some sticker shock.

“There’s still a huge cultural hurdle to come over here, that if you look at the salaries that the top developers are being paid if they’re working for Amazon or Google, those sorts of salaries aren’t available now,” Davenport told IT Brew. “Automotive manufacturers don’t see the value.”

Some car companies outsourced IT work in the past and are now playing catchup, Davenport said. VW, for example, had 90% of the software for its vehicles produced by Continental Automotive in 2019. By 2025, Davenport said, VW aims to have 60% of its software developed in house.

“It’s created its own carry out business unit, consolidated together,” Davenport said.

NeCESsary work. The automotive sector’s angling to become a big player in software and IT was apparent this year at CES, the tech industry’s biggest trade show. Companies were on the hunt for talent, searching for software developers, data analysts, and more.

Charles Eagan, CTO of BlackBerry, told IT Brew on the CES show floor that the company is keeping an eye out for talent as it intensifies efforts to be a major player in the car software and security market.

“A lot of the capabilities we have in cyber become applicable in the automotive space,” Eagan said. “So, we’re trying to look at how we can secure the automotive market before it’s needed.”

Automotive hasn’t traditionally been a soft landing spot for IT workers—and it’s “still not leading the pack,” Robinson said. Because of the unique challenges and specifications of developing and maintaining software and applications for 3,000-pound machines that travel at high speeds, there’s a need for IT workers joining the industry to have more knowledge of the context of the programming they will be doing.

“You’re writing the software for the car but you’re also collecting that data, you’re analyzing that data,” Robinson said. “And that probably implies infrastructure that needs to be set up, and then data analysts that need to come in after the software has been written. Those are additional needs beyond just the software that’s going into the car.”—EH

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