Report: Car Industry Hiring More Human Employees Despite Robots

The automobile industry is largely hiring more human employees than it did in 2013, particularly in China, despite advances in robotic manufacturing according to a report.

“Of the 13 publicly traded automakers with at least 100,000 workers at the end of their most-recent fiscal year, 11 had more staff compared with year-end 2013,” reported Bloomberg. “Combined, they had 3.1 million employees, or 11 percent more than four years earlier, the data show.”

Volkswagen, Toyota, Daimler, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Ford, BYD, Renault, SAIC, Dongfeng, and BMW all had more human employees in 2017 than 2013, while General Motors and Nissan had less.

Employee growth was reportedly strongest in the Chinese automobile industry, where humans are being favored “because it requires less upfront investment.”

“There’s been a lot of growth in emerging markets, especially China, so that’s one reason automakers are adding staff,” claimed Bloomberg analyst Steve Man, who is based in Hong Kong. “More staff is being added on the R&D side, with the push for autonomous, electric, connected vehicles.”