Record graduate and apprentice intake at Jaguar Land Rover
VEHICLE manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has welcomed a record intake of nearly 600 new graduates and apprentices to the business.
The company is the largest apprenticeship provider in the UK automotive sector, currently accounting for approximately half of the total apprentices employed in the UK automotive OEM sector.
The intake is around 100 up on last year and means around 2,500 of the firm’s employees have started their careers through the graduate and apprentice recruitment programme.
Dr Ralf Speth, JLR CEO, said: “I am proud to welcome tomorrow’s engineers, technicians and innovators at the very beginning of their career with the company. This is an exciting time to join our business. We are investing significantly in the future of Jaguar Land Rover by creating very special vehicles for our discerning customers and, just as importantly by employing and developing the highly skilled people that will help ensure our continued success.”
The new graduates and apprentices are also the first to start their training as part of the Jaguar Land Rover Academy, which was officially launched this week.
The new academy will offer learning and development for employees at all stages of their working lives with the company, whether they are new recruits or more experienced employees seeking to move to the next level in the organisation.
This structured approach to lifelong learning is designed to deliver training that is relevant to the business’ changing requirements and enable employees to progress their careers at Jaguar Land Rover.
The new recruits also had the opportunity of meeting Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who said: “It is great for Britain that we have got such a successful automotive industry and the graduates and apprentices joining Jaguar Land Rover will have an important role to play in building on that success in the future.
“I congratulate the new intake on securing the opportunity to work at the heart of the renaissance of the British car industry. Companies like Jaguar Land Rover are backing the next generation of British talent, helping people to build careers and boosting the country’s productivity.”
The graduates and apprentices have begun their programmes with a joint formal induction week at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry. Designed to inspire participants, the induction has included motivational talks from Richard Noble, the former land speed record holder and Kenton Cool, one of the world’s leading high-altitude climbers.
Those attending have also had the chance to put questions to Dr Speth and other members of the company’s executive committee, familiarise themselves with the latest vehicles and have a glimpse at the future line-up.
The company’s undergraduate placement scheme is increasingly becoming a feeder for the graduate programme, with 85 of the 333 graduates joining this week previously having been on paid undergraduate placements with the company.
Similarly, the company’s Young Women In The Know course has led to an increase in the number of females taking up advanced and higher apprenticeships at Jaguar Land Rover – 14 of the girls who took the course last year are amongst the 46 new female apprentices.
Danella Bagnall, Vehicle Programme Director at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “I started my career as an apprentice 26 years ago which was a great way of continuing education, developing skills, and getting into industry. I am now an engineering director, which demonstrates the excellent career progression opportunities available to women in a modern engineering-led business like Jaguar Land Rover. I would thoroughly recommend a career in engineering to girls.”
