“Thousands of jobs will need to be filled, but the Czechia can only offer top experts. Human resources from the Czech Republic alone would not be enough for a single gigafactory, “points out Zdeněk Petzl, Executive Director of the Automotive Industry Association. Experts who could be involved in the production of batteries are now largely active in universities.
“Creating the right conditions in terms of incentives and securing workers is a huge challenge. It is still a new topic in which we need to educate people professionally. A new economy will emerge, the Czechia can start up again, “adds Petzl. The association it represents gives the government an advisory voice on the issue of the establishment of a gigafactory in the Czech Republic.
The lack of free forces on the labor market is one of the biggest problems of the Czech economy, which has more vacancies than the unemployed. At the same time, there is no indication that this situation should change in the near future. It would be all the more challenging to fill the gigafactory primarily with Czech workers.
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“In addition to complex permitting processes, the need to find several thousand employees in the exhausted labor market will also be a problem. Primarily, of course, it will be necessary to give the opportunity to domestic employees, and further reduce the demands on the workforce by maximum automation and robotization of operations. And, if necessary, import suitable workers from abroad, “says Radek Špicar, vice-president of the Confederation of Industry and Transport.
Of the probably two to three thousand jobs created by gigafactory, the highest-skilled professionals would have up to 350 positions, according to trade union leader Jaroslav Povšík, who is taking part in negotiations within Škoda Auto, with regard to previous experience in similar factories.
“I assume that the domestic labor market would be able to generate one hundred, at most 150 experts in this field. The remaining two hundred would have to come from abroad, “says Povšík. “It would be an attractive challenge for them in the emerging business, and well paid,” adds the trade unionist.
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Experts in key positions in the field of battery production can earn well over two hundred thousand crowns a month and receive several million annual bonuses, says Povšík. “If Volkswagen were to build the factory, it would take advantage of the synergies within its considerable personnel capacity. The factory would be largely run by the Germans, “he is convinced.
Gigafactory Volkswagen: What can it bring to the Czech Republic?
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Gigafactory Volkswagen in the Czech Republic – positives and negatives • VIDEO Videohub
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Gigafactory Volkswagen in the Czech Republic – positives and negatives • VIDEO Videohub
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Škoda Auto is also well aware that the market is not full of unemployed battery experts. He therefore wants to secure sufficient personnel capacity with massive investments. It has earmarked almost half a billion euros in the staff training budget, which it will invest from next year until 2030.
“If the factory were to be established, it would take several years, during which a long-term recruitment would take place. Retraining would play an important role, enabling the employment of many people from coal regions who will undergo transformation. Gigafactory management would be made up of Czechs and foreigners, “says Martin Jahn, a member of the Škoda Auto Board of Directors.
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“It will require the willingness of people to retrain,” Špicar warns, recalling that similar structural changes in economies such as the Czechia are undergoing other countries in Western Europe that help workers in the affected sectors with retraining – as well as employers.
An even more difficult task is to find qualified experts in battery development. It is in this area that not only the Czechia but the whole of Europe has serious personnel shortcomings, warns Vu Nguyen Hong, head of chemical metallurgy at the University of Chemical Technology in Prague.
“Staffing capacity would not be enough to develop new batteries, which is the biggest problem. We have only a few quality but smaller workplaces that deal with this issue. However, it is very far to put their research into practice, “describes Nguyen, recalling that the development of the battery will take at least five years.
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Electric car batteries are currently being developed mainly in Asia, from where European carmakers import them on a large scale. In the coming years, they want to procure the key component themselves. The latest announcement was announced by the French carmaker Renault, which joined forces with the Chinese company Envision AESC and the French startup Verkor. Together, they will produce batteries for electric cars in the north of France, the agency said Reuters.
The plant is to employ 2,500 people by 2030, and Envision should invest about 51 billion crowns. Renault also announced that it will merge three of its plants in the north of France into one that will produce four hundred thousand electric cars a year in 2025 at the latest. Today, the plants employ about five thousand people, and their transformation is to create another seven hundred places. With Verkor, Renault also wants to develop batteries.
Many more such alliances are now being formed in Europe. Volvo, for example, plans to set up a joint venture to manufacture batteries with Swedish flashlight maker Northvolt. Volkswagen has previously invested 23 billion crowns in joint activities with Northvolt.
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