The answer would appear simple, if business has become hectic and you can’t pay people enough to work for you, then it gets a little complicated. Sadly, companies all over the country are struggling to find help, begging people to work, and are battling with running a business amid a pandemic.

Dwayne Myers of Dynamic Automotive has worked on and perfected his plan to find good recruits. He says, “If you want to bring in and retain your team you need to have some direction. Military gave me a lot of structure, and they set clear expectations. I knew what I was going to do and when I was going to do it. An organized plan is something the younger generations like. No matter how simple it is it helps.”

But, what about the auto industry, and why are so many technicians leaving?

• Average yearly pay is less than $42,000
• Pay structure
• Tools and technology
• Stigma
• Work environment
• Covid

We went from a skyrocketing unemployment rate, a lack of jobs, layoffs, and “I’ll take what I can get” attitudes to a lingering unemployment rate, a high demand for workers, and a life crisis from those starting to rethink their lives. People are surveying their financial situations, demanding higher-level jobs, and not settling for anything less. Some are changing careers, some are retiring, and some are just searching for a happy life.

How bad is it for an automotive industry that already has 750,000 auto technicians in the US?

• The US Bureau of Labor Statistics concludes we will need 76,000 new technicians a year to keep up with demand and a minimum 46,000 to keep up with growing demand.
• About 30,000 to fill slots from technicians that retire or quit the industry with trade schools only turning out 37,000 new techs each year

In a nutshell, people are opting out of the stressful lifestyle and choosing a better work-life balance. They are leaving bad managers or toxic work environments, and millennials are demanding more. The automotive industry has a much higher turnover rate at 35 percent compared to other sectors.

What’s worse is the hard-luck is trickling down to customers stumbling to find good auto repair shops offering affordable rates and knowledgeable technicians. Cars are taking longer to get repaired, customers are without transportation, and shops are scrambling to find qualified technicians.

With the automotive industry grasping to find good technicians, you may find yourselves asking the question, “How do we recruit good people?” The question is more about focusing on the How because if you aren’t finding the right people, it doesn’t matter what you’re promoting.

NOTE:

This blog is the first in a three-part series on finding, recruiting, and keeping good people in the automotive industry. Next up: We will discuss how to recruit good employees in the auto repair shop industry.