International Roundtable on the EV Battery industry and its implications for the Future of Work in the Automotive sector

There are more than 300 new gigafactories in the pipeline for the next ten years for a total forecast capacity of more than 8 Terawatt hours, roughly equivalent to 800,000 new direct jobs. In less than a decade, the EV battery industry will replace the conventional powertrain industry as one of the main employer of the automotive sector.

The purpose of this international roundtable is to start a collective discussion within the Gerpisa international network on the consequences of this dramatic transformation of the automotive sector for the future of work and employment.

The roundtable is chaired by Thomas Klier, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
The participants are:

• Kristin Dziczek, policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
• Boy Lüthje, professor at the Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou (SYSU)
• Marc Alochet, associated researcher at the Ecole Polytechnique (CRG)
• Tommaso Pardi, director of Gerpisa and senior researcher at the CNRS

The main topics of the discussion will be:

What are the main factors that are shaping the fast growth of battery investments and battery production in the major markets for EVs (China, Europe and the US) and what are their implications for the restructuring of existing automotive value chains and the creation of new jobs in battery production? Does the shift from conventional powertrains manufacturing to battery manufacturing represent an upgrading, reproduction or downgrading of the automotive employment relationship?
Given the very dynamic configuration of the battery industry (fast growth, new entrants, different types of employers, key role of national and international policies and regulations, fast technological change, etc.) what are the key research questions and the key empirical enquiries that the Gerpisa international network should address and focuses on in its international programme of research?