A new report identifies ‘significant’ skills gaps in the US battery industry

As the US gets serious about shifting to EVs, it will need many more batteries. A lot more.

It’s also going to need a skilled workforce to produce those batteries, as a new report from the Center for Automotive Research underscores.

The report emphasizes the growing need for a more robust battery workforce, as demand for lithium-ion batteries in the US is expected to grow sixfold by 2030.

• Researchers, drawing from surveys of 158 respondents conducted by CAR (which was contracted through Argonne National Lab), identified “significant” skills gaps in the battery industry; worker shortages; recruitment and retention challenges; the need for additional training and education; and expectations that hiring demand will grow for years to come.

“The United States faces serious challenges with the anticipated surge in battery demand, signifying a time-sensitive and nationwide need to fortify industry with a skilled workforce,” per the report.

82% of respondents reported a shortage of “skilled local applicants”

Engineers, technicians, and assemblers represented the biggest shortages industrywide. The report also identified skills gaps in areas like safety, manufacturing, electrochemistry, battery management systems, battery chemistry, and product and system design.

Lisa Krusemark, an industry analyst at CAR and one of the report’s authors, told Tech Brew that one of the main takeaways is the importance of education that better aligns with the industry’s needs: “There are…different efforts that are gaining some momentum, but now it’s about centralizing that information, getting everyone together, and connecting the dots to say, ‘What are our education and training resources here? What is available for someone who’s currently in the workforce who needs to either re-skill or upskill in their current position, as their industry changes or as their role changes?’”

The findings come as the US labor movement looks to organize battery plant workers to ensure job security and fair wages for workers whose roles could be eliminated as a result of the clean-energy transition. Labor leaders have expressed concerns about the establishment of joint-venture plants with nonunion battery makers and lower pay for some of the industry’s early jobs.

The UAW last month announced it was allocating $40 million in response to “an explosion in organizing activity among nonunion auto and battery workers.”

“In the next few years, the electric vehicle battery industry is slated to add tens of thousands of jobs across the country, and new standards are being set as the industry comes online,” the union said in a released statement. “These jobs will supplement, and in some cases, largely replace, existing powertrain jobs in the auto industry. Through a massive new organizing effort, workers will fight to maintain and raise the standard in the emerging battery industry.”