The effects of the Autonomous Driving market consolidating
Back in 2016 when I first started recruiting in the Autonomous Driving space, it felt like a new AD startup was being set up every week, or a big tech company was joining the space. Fast forward 5 years and we have a much different landscape. The great gold rush to autonomy has changed into a more mature and robust market. Much of the market has now consolidated through acquisitions and partnerships. Unfortunately, some startups went under but I’m sure they are all richer for the experience.
Hiring within Autonomous Driving
Whilst I’m not a technical person, I have been acutely analyzing this technology through the lens of recruitment. Understanding the different hiring trends and cycles are important to stay ahead of the competition. We certainly saw a clamour from candidates coming from other top tech industries that wanted to experience AD.
There was a huge buzz around the industry which did all the selling itself almost! A smaller pool of candidates and a larger number of companies wanting this talent created this hugely competitive space with candidates sometimes receiving over 10 offers! I also saw more of an appetite for research folks, PhD candidates and those with strong mathematical backgrounds. As the focus became more about safety the hiring became more about engineering and automotive systems.
More recently we have seen the market consolidating with big acquisitions like Toyota/Lyft, Aurora/Uber ATG and Amazon/Zoox to name a few. Initially, we noticed a slowdown in hiring as integrated the teams but certainly expect them to pick back up! Startups have now IPOd or have big funding and can compete with the big tech companies but can also offer a more dynamic work environment. The companies that have been able to offer the candidate a good interview experience with fewer steps have seen better success. Strong and aggressive offers are still as important as they were back in 2016!
Spin-offs within Autonomous Driving
The other important aspect that we have seen from the AD market consolidation was companies spinning off into new areas of autonomy. Delivery robotics, manufacturing and automation, AR/VR, security camera systems, aerospace/drones, and mining to name a few. This has given companies a new (and typically quicker) route to commercialization. It can also offer different applications and therefore experiences to candidates. With the pandemic and labour shortage, we are seeing an increased need for many of these applications which and seen a positive uptick in VC investment and consequently hiring.
At Adapt Talent we specialize in recruitment within the artificial intelligence industry, contact us today for all of your staffing needs.
