Staff Index: Labour sector shrinks 2.4% on fewer jobs

From the newsletter 

The labour market in the electric mobility sector declined by 2.45% in the past month, the Mobility Rising Staff Index shows. It measures the change in the number of jobs available, number of companies advertising jobs, and the most recent shift in our sector salary survey. It also tracks the change in the number of staff and attrition rate at the top ten companies. 

• The Index went down from 282.9 in June to 276 in July. This was mainly driven by a 16.6% decrease in the number of electric mobility jobs advertised during the period.   

• Our analysis shows that the number of jobs advertised by electric mobility companies across Africa declined from 102 in June to 85 in July. This is the lowest since May when 75 jobs were advertised. 

More details

• As part of the Index, we surveyed Africa’s ten leading electric mobility companies as ranked by the number of their employees. The top ten firms, ranked from first to last, are Tesla, Spiro, Max, Rubicon and Ampersand. Others are Roam Electric, Kiira Motors Corporation, Gogo Electric, BYD and BasiGo.  

• These firms increased their workforce by 1,289 staff over the past 12 months, according to our analysis of LinkedIn data. The new hires make up 38% of the current workforce of these companies, which totals 3,386 employees, marking a growth of 12.6% from 3,007 in June. 

• Despite the slowdown in hiring across the sector in July compared to June, the rate of hiring by the top ten firms has gone up significantly over the past 12 months. Our analysis shows that the pace of hiring of the leading firms went up by 6% in July compared to a decline of 1.6% in June. 

• Tesla continued to dominate African EV hiring, adding 918 new employees in one year—more than the combined net growth of the next nine EV firms—cementing its position as the fastest growing and largest EV employer on the continent with 1,430 staff.

• Electric motorcycle and bus firms are also leading regional growth, with companies like Spiro, Ampersand, and Roam Electric continuing to expand rapidly, reflecting the rising demand for two- and three-wheeler electric mobility across East and West Africa. 

• Electric mobility and logistics startups across the continent raised $110.9 million from investors in the first half of 2025, which is expected to fuel their expansion. This is expected to lead to increased hiring by startups from various roles in the coming months. 

Our take

• While job postings declined 16.6% in July, the strong year-on-year workforce growth among the top firms and the recent $110.9 million in funding suggest hiring will rebound in coming months, especially among well-funded startups scaling operations.

• As dominant players like Tesla and Spiro accelerate hiring, smaller or slower-growing firms may face higher attrition or challenges attracting top talent, leading to possible consolidations or mergers. 

• With electric motorcycle and bus companies expanding rapidly, there will be rising demand for technical, logistics, and operations talent, especially in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Rwanda, which are key electric mobility hubs.