Recruitment crisis looms as Chinese brands set up shop

Top talent is in demand amid a turbulent employment market

- JULIAN RENDELL

Industry insiders will have been startled by the recent news that Volvo high-flyer Matt Galvin had suddenly departed the company.

Commercial director Galvin, six years at Volvo UK and a key influence on the brand’s recent business renaissance as well as the likely successor to managing director Kristian Elvefors, was lured away by an even better offer from Chinese electric car maker Nio. He has been tasked with establishing from scratch a new brand in the UK with a sales, parts and service operation. It’s the sort of career-defining offer that comes rarely to a car executive.

There are power politics at play here, of course. Volvo is owned by Chinese company Geely, and Galvin’s departure to an ambitious Chinese rival shines a light on a challenge confronting Chinese automotive brands more than others: how to set up new UK operations and recruit the best staff during a time of wage inflation, a skills shortage and the upheaval of electrification.

Every car maker in the UK is facing some of these problems, of course, but the next wave of new brands coming here will be predominantly from China and require completely new workforce teams, at a time when the recruitment environment is the toughest it has been for decades.

“This is a real issue for all industries, but for Chinese OEMs, the timing is difficult,” said Lynda Ennis, founder of Ennis & Co, an executive search specialist in the automotive and mobility industries. “To attract the best talent is going to require some clever and flexible management thinking.”