Inside Schneider Electric’s Talent and People Strategy

Schneider Electric’s Wuhan factory in China has been recognised as a Global Lighthouse for Talent by the World Economic Forum (WEF). 

The Global Lighthouse Network was first introduced by the WEF and McKinsey as a way to recognise operational sites that have achieved exceptional performance. 

Talent, the most recently introduced category, looks to identify sites that have a transformational impact on their workforce through safety, talent planning and onboarding. 

Schneider Electric is one of three companies to be recognised, alongside AUO Corporation and Haier Refrigerator Manufacturing. 

Discussing the initiative in a company press release, Kiva Allgood, Managing Director of the WEF, says: “Competitiveness today is no longer defined by efficiency alone, but by the ability to sense, adapt and respond at speed.

“This year’s industrial transformation sites show how intelligence-led operations are being scaled to place resilience and sustainability at the core of how industry operates.”

Reshaping an operational talent strategy

According to Schneider Electric, the company’s Wuhan site began facing significant workforce challenges after increasing its product portfolio by 239%. 

This, combined with rapid automation, meant that only 20% of employees had the automation skills they needed, time taken to onboard employees rose to 75 days and its technician turnover rose to 48%. 

Schneider Electric implemented what it describes as a ‘future-ready, people-centric workforce model’ to manage these challenges, leveraging its technological capabilities, partnerships and continuous learning initiatives.

To build up a talent pipeline, the company has partnered with 11 vocational schools, creating digital apprenticeships, AI labs and dedicated scholarships. 

The initiative is designed to provide practical skills to students, according to Schneider Electric, increasing their competitiveness in the workplace while developing a sustainable skills pipeline. 

Leveraging AI to improve worker performance

Schneider Electric has also invested heavily in AI in recent years to address its skills shortages and improve productivity. 

Globally, the company has an AI-based career development hub, called the Open Talent Market. Introduced in 2020, the platform is designed to drive internal workforce agility and increase talent retention. 

Employees upload their skills within the platform and an algorithm analyses their profile, matching them to relevant opportunities. According to Schneider Electric, this has reduced bias in hiring, with 55% of project assignments now going to female applicants.

The Wuhan site has also increased its use of AI – using agentic AI to track skills gaps in workers and assign personalised training. 

The choice to employ a ‘pay-for-skills’ career path model – where employees are rewarded for acquiring new competencies –  has led to workforce readiness increasing from 20% to 76%, with 56% of employees considered to have been upskilled. 

With Gen AI and AI-powered product acceleration, the company has also reduced time taken per task. 

By automating repetitive work and using AI to provide guidance, new product introduction cycles have shortened by 66.7% and technician turnover has decreased from 48% to 6%. 

Announcing the Global Lighthouse recognition in a statement, Mourad Tamoud, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Schneider Electric, says: “The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about people as much as technology. 

“At Wuhan, we’ve shown that when AI and human potential work together, organisations can build resilient, agile and future-ready workforces – while ensuring technology serves its ultimate purpose: delivering more value to customers.”