Gasgoo Munich- By 2025, the talent gap in China's energy-saving and new-energy vehicle sector will hit 1 million. The supply-demand ratio for autonomous driving engineers stands at just 0.38, meaning there are fewer than one qualified candidate for every open position.
More acute is the reality that even offering double the salary often fails to lure a qualified intelligent driving engineer from the market. From power batteries to smart driving and "three-electric" systems, every emerging field is facing critical talent shortages, while graduates in traditional mechanical and process engineering face fierce competition. The old logic of "filling gaps as they appear" is breaking down.
How to solve it? At the talent sub-forum of the 2026 China Auto Forum, panelists offered a unanimous answer: stop counting on poaching ready-made talent from the market and start cultivating it in-house.
Automotive Engineers Are Being Redefined
Why do HR professionals increasingly need to understand the business? Because talent needs have shifted.
In the past, the skills gap was clear. Engines, chassis, bodywork, manufacturing—every role mapped to a specific discipline. HR's job was largely matching positions to people.
Today, the conversation revolves around autonomous driving, large models, embodied intelligence, and globalization. These shifts ultimately land on talent, reshaping the profile of the automotive engineer.
Image source: 2026 China Auto Forum
Li Zhele, secretary-general of the Automotive Talent Professional Committee under the China Talent Research Society, traced the evolution of the competency model. The emphasis has moved from problem-solving to complex problem-solving, from learning ability to rapid learning, and from imitative innovation to pioneering innovation. Nearly all six core competencies have shifted.
The change is hitting R&D teams first. Data shared by Li shows that at an eastern coastal automaker in 2025, software and algorithm engineers accounted for 70% of the smart-connected R&D staff. At some leading companies, software developers make up more than half of the R&D workforce.
This doesn't diminish the value of mechanical engineering, but it signals a shift in R&D. The knowledge base is expanding from mechanical design to electronics, software development, AI, and control engineering. Single-discipline expertise remains vital, but more roles now demand cross-functional collaboration.
The pace of acceleration has quickened. Previously, it took five to ten years for an engineer to handle independent R&D. Now, fresh graduates average just 19 months, with some smart-connected sectors shrinking that to 15 months.
A survey of nearly 500 industry leaders by Li's team found that 78% have over a decade of experience, with an average age of 37. The growth cycle for top talent in China is 5 to 10 years shorter than that of international peers.
Speed brings higher demands. Li argues that simple, predictable tasks will increasingly fall to AI. Engineers will be left with complex, uncertain problems lacking standard answers. The industry won't eliminate specific majors—it will eliminate those who stop evolving.
Image source: 2026 China Auto Forum
This view is echoed on the corporate front. Geng Yi, general manager of Changan Automobile's industry-education integration division, noted that engineers today face issues ranging from algorithm iteration and user experience optimization to technology roadmap choices—problems rarely solved by a single discipline or a textbook answer.
As the engineer's role changes, recruiters must sense it first. Li put it bluntly: "HR today needs to know a bit of everything—topics ranging from history to geography. At the very least, when you sit with the business team, you can't be clueless about what they're saying."
That sounds like a tall order for HR. But as the forum progressed, the point became clearer. The HR leaders who followed barely mentioned hiring at all.
Ding Wuxia, HR director at NIO, outlined the company's three brands, battery-swapping system, and global R&D layout. Dong Hanyu, XPENG's head of global recruitment, started with the company's positioning: beyond cars, XPENG is building flying cars and humanoid robots, aiming to become a global embodied intelligence company. Only then did he turn to talent acquisition.
The order wasn't accidental. In the smart vehicle era, what a company does, who it needs, and what skills they require can't be answered by a job description alone. The starting point for recruitment has shifted.
Hiring standards are adjusting too. Companies increasingly seek talent with a hybrid background—understanding mechanics but fluent in software, electronics, and algorithms. Systemic thinking and cross-functional collaboration are mentioned far more often than niche expertise.
Going Global: A New Battleground for Talent
Even as the domestic market adapts to these shifts, globalization is pushing talent needs into new dimensions. Panelists focused on what companies require once they "go out."
Li Kang, a member of the National Steering Committee of Teaching for Automobile Vocational, outlined three stages of Chinese automotive expansion: product export, deep brand and technology export, and global ecosystem co-construction. Talent needs evolve with each stage.
Initially, companies relied on expat teams to replicate mature products and management overseas. As business deepens, local R&D, manufacturing, and supply chains emerge, driving demand for local talent. At the global operations stage, firms need unified talent standards alongside cross-cultural collaboration and management capabilities.
Image source: Chery
Many companies have reached the second stage and are eyeing the third.
Take Chery. It revived the local Ebro brand in Spain, engaging in local development through production and operations. Chairman Yin Tongyue's philosophy—"In somewhere, For somewhere, Be somewhere"—reflects a drive to integrate rather than just export.
More Chinese automakers are building overseas factories, R&D centers, and supply chains. Products enter markets quickly; production lines can be copied. Building people and organizations, however, takes time.
Changan's experience illustrates this. Geng Yi noted that after entering Thailand, labor disputes arose over overtime culture between Chinese and local staff. Unlike technical specs, these differences have no unified solution.
As Chinese automakers enter new markets, they face more than product certification and supply chains. They must navigate labor laws, talent development, organizational management, and cultural integration.
Forum guests emphasized "localization." Global layouts have shattered traditional boundaries. Companies need not just technical experts but professionals versed in overseas regulations, cross-cultural communication, and international operations. As business expands, the gap for such talent is widening.
NIO is front-loading its global layout. Ding Wuxia explained that NIO configures R&D resources with a global mindset. "Where the talent is, NIO builds the office." The priority is talent pools, not just geography.
Changan is focusing on vocational education. Its "Changan Workshop" project builds industry-education bases at overseas vocational schools, integrating corporate standards and technology. Geng Yi argued that for Chinese brands to take root, selling products isn't enough; local students must also understand Chinese brands, technology, and standards.
The focus is shifting from "exporting cars" to "exporting capabilities." This encompasses R&D, manufacturing, talent development, organizational management, and cultural fusion.
It's not just about language skills. Companies need individuals who understand both the Chinese auto industry and the local regulatory, cultural, and business landscape. These talents bridge headquarters and overseas teams, helping decode market rules.
Ultimately, It Comes Down to Who Trains Faster
If recent years were defined by talent poaching, this year's forum signals a pivot: more companies are focusing on building internal training systems.
The reason is straightforward. Trends like autonomous driving, software, AI, and globalization are moving fast. The talent needed is new, but the supply of seasoned talent hasn't kept pace. Relying solely on external hiring won't solve the long-term supply problem.
XPENG's Dong Hanyu shared data: in 2025, the company hired about 500 graduates in management and technical roles. By 2026, that number exceeded 1,000, with plans to approach 2,000 in 2027. Including manufacturing and sales, total campus hiring could reach 5,000.
Geely recruited over 4,000 graduates in 2026. Yang Xueliang, senior vice president of Geely Holding Group, calls them "Wild Geese"—exceptional, passionate young talent selected from hundreds, expected to find their place on Geely's big stage.
It's not just about numbers. XPENG is overhauling its strategy, shifting from a reliance on social hiring to a long-term model centered on campus recruits and youth development. By 2027, campus hires are set to rise from 50% to 70% of total recruitment.
This shift aligns with business rhythms. At XPENG, AI is now a fundamental R&D tool. Younger employees adopt new tools faster, learn quicker, and adapt more easily to new development methods.
Image source: 2026 China Auto Forum
XPENG redesigned its graduate training mechanism. New hires have separate performance and promotion tracks for their first three years, distinct from experienced hires, ensuring a protected growth cycle.
Changan is looking even further upstream. Geng Yi pointed out a persistent lag: companies update product and tech directions annually, while university curriculums take years to revise.
Previously, training started at recruitment. Now, companies are looking at schools.
Changan established a separate legal entity for industry-education integration to inject corporate needs into the training pipeline, keeping courses and practical training aligned with industry evolution.
The goal isn't to lock students in early, but to ensure graduates can hit the ground running as the industry evolves.
Schools feel the pressure too. Peng Ding, dean of the School of Automotive and Aviation at Wuhu Vocational Technical University, highlighted a reality: companies launch multiple new products and technologies annually, while curriculum updates lag. As rapid change becomes the norm, schools must constantly adjust courses, practical training, and partnerships.
Faced with new corporate demands, schools are no longer asking "can we do this?" but "how fast can we do this?"
This goes beyond curriculum tweaks. More vocational schools are introducing real corporate projects into classrooms, letting students tackle actual R&D and production scenarios early on.
This accelerates the training cycle. NIO sees another shift: new businesses like direct sales, battery swapping, and user communities have created roles that didn't exist before. With no market talent to hire, NIO has to build teams while exploring the business itself.
NIO has built a comprehensive talent system around its values—covering goal setting, performance evaluation, and incentive feedback—designed to help employees grow alongside the business.
Image source: BYD
Viewed together, XPENG, Changan, and NIO may have chosen different paths, but their focus is converging: rather than hunting for ready-made talent, they are investing in long-term supply capacity.
Yesterday, automakers relied on the market. Today, more are building their own systems. And this transformation is far from over.
The forum's discussion went beyond recruitment. Engineers face new tech architectures, companies face global competition, and universities are reshaping training models. Talent issues now permeate every link of the automotive chain.
The question has shifted from "how many people do we lack?" to "what kind of people do we need, and how do we train them fast?" Understanding the business, strategy, and industry direction is now a prerequisite for judging talent needs.
As the automotive industry enters a new phase, the war for talent has entered a new stage as well.
