Which skills do EV companies look for in applicants?

Hey,

Welcome to Green Jobs Rising!

Q: Which skills do EV companies look for in applicants?
A: Our sister newsletter Mobility Rising had the chance to chat with Ms Shuvai Madanhire, the outgoing chief human resources manager at Spiro.

Electric mobility is one of the fastest growing sectors in Africa, and Ms Madanhire knows the skills that can make you stand out. Battery technicians, EV manufacturing specialists, quality engineers, and advanced technology professionals are among the most sought after talents, she says.

She has 18 years of human resource experience across Europe and Africa. She served as Head of HR at Spiro for three years, drawn by the opportunity to build talent systems in a transformative sector for Africa.

Q: How did Spiro approach talent sourcing and skills availability across different regions in Africa?
A: Talent availability varied significantly by region, which meant a single, continent-wide hiring approach would not work. Instead, strategies had to be adapted locally.

In West Africa, particularly Benin and Togo, we initially relied heavily on expatriate technical talent, largely from India, to bridge early capability gaps. In East Africa, including Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, we found a stronger base of local engineering and technical skills, supported by more developed education and vocational training systems. Nigeria also stood out for its depth of software engineering talent, driven by a strong and growing technology ecosystem.

That said, across all regions, highly specialised EV-related skills such as battery technology, IoT, AI, payment integration, and data engineering remained scarce and expensive. This made one thing clear: HR could not rely solely on the external labour market to meet future capability needs.

Q: Which skills were the hardest to find in Africa’s e‑mobility sector?
A: The hardest roles to fill were battery technicians, EV manufacturing specialists, quality engineers, and advanced technology professionals working on EV-specific systems such as data analytics, mapping, and connected vehicle platforms.

While some countries, such as South Africa, do have these capabilities, limited mobility and high costs make scaling difficult. This highlights an important shift for HR leaders: in emerging sectors like e-mobility, skills scarcity is not just a short-term hiring challenge, but a long-term strategic constraint. It requires intentional investment in building talent, not just sourcing it.

Q: What role did the Spiro Academy play in addressing talent gaps?
A: The Spiro Academy became a core part of the talent strategy. As the organisation entered a phase of rapid growth, it was clear that relying on external hiring alone would not be sustainable or cost-effective.

The Academy was designed to build a steady internal talent pipeline, particularly for technical and vocational roles. The focus was on training local talent in manufacturing, aftersales, and battery-related functions, ensuring that workforce growth could keep pace with operational expansion. To date, over 5,000 technicians have been trained.

This offers a clear takeaway: in sectors where talent supply is still catching up with demand, internal academies are not just learning initiatives, they are critical infrastructure.

Q: How did Spiro manage retention and what explains the low attrition rate?
A: Attrition across African operations averaged around 2%, which is exceptionally low. This was driven more by culture than by policy or compensation structures.

Employees had access to continuous learning, exposure to multiple projects, and real responsibility early in their careers. Internal mobility and rapid skills development created a strong sense of growth and engagement. Even during periods of restructuring, voluntary turnover remained low because employees felt invested both in the organisation’s mission and in their own development.

The lesson here is simple but important: in fast-growing sectors, retention is less about restrictive measures and more about creating opportunities to learn, grow, and take ownership.