Recruitments and Permits: Xiaomi’s Progress into the EV Sector
As electric vehicles become increasingly popular, many tech companies invest heavily to enter and expand into the sector. Most recently, Xiaomi posted job listings on its official website looking for a wide range of engineers. Specifically, the smartphone manufacturer seeks engineers working on extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) and people familiar with internal combustion systems, air intake, and exhaust systems.
The new job listings suggest that Xiaomi is closely preparing for an EREV vehicle shortly, alongside plans for the future Xiaomi MS11 car. While the MS11 currently undergoes trial production, Xiaomi’s search for new engineers will likely work on the other vehicles they intend to manufacture.
Currently, the job listing calls for EREV engineers with at least three years of experience. They will be tasked with developing new EREV-related components, testing, and assisting in building a supply chain. The company must also keep up with and research future range extender technologies.
In August this year, Xiaomi won the approval of China’s state planner to manufacture EVs. This marks a significant step toward the smartphone maker’s goal of heading into the automotive sector by early 2024. The approval from NDRC brings the company close to mass production of EVs more than two years after initially announcing its EV plans.
At the same time, Xiaomi still needs clearance from the Ministry of Industry and Information — which assesses new automakers and models for technical and safety requirements. Previously, Xiaomi had pledged a $10 billion investment over a decade in the automobile business and set a goal of mass-producing its first cars within the first half of 2024.
A look into Xiaomi’s workforce
With the recent reveal of EREV job listings, it’s essential to look back at the smartphone giant’s layoffs announced at the end of 2022. According to a report from the South China Morning Post, the Chinese company had implemented routine personnel optimization and organizational streamlining, affecting less than 10% of the total workforce.
In September 2022, Xiaomi’s total headcount stood at 35,314 workers, most based in mainland China, India, and Indonesia. The layoffs were attributed to a drop in company revenues as an unfortunate aftermath of years-long pandemic restrictions and slowing global smartphone demand. Today, Xiaomi remains one of the world’s largest smartphone makers, having shipped more than 190 million smartphone units in 2021 — a 45 million increase compared to 2020.
Of course, the company’s recent plans for expansion into the EV sector call for new recruitment to fill the knowledge and talent gap. In recent years, many tech companies have also announced plans for expansion into new sectors. LHH’s insights on recruitment solutions highlight the importance of using innovative recruiting strategies and comprehensive screening methods to acquire outstanding candidates. For tech companies and other businesses looking for high-performing professionals to help ease the process of business expansions and changes, it’s vital to make use of recruitment solutions to ensure they get the best-qualified talent in the job market. These solutions may include support for long-term seasonal and business cycles to find the most cost-effective combination of direct hire and contingent workers, which can help prevent significant layoffs from occurring again once projects end.
Xiaomi’s slow and steady move into the EV sector makes it one of many tech companies playing in the electric vehicle sector. We recently wrote about the new upgrades to Android Auto as Google continues working on new EV-related features to enhance the EV experience for consumers. The recent upgrades include the ability to manually identify your car as an EV and activate EV capabilities and updates to improve overall usability and convenience for EV users.
It’ll be interesting to see Xiaomi’s take on EV integration smartphone apps in the future, and at the rate that the company is going, we may not have to wait much longer.
