There is rising concern among collision repair facility operators about the industry’s ability to attract new technicians to the trade. Concern about the future of the collision repair industry’s workforce is evident in conversations I have had with repairers throughout not only the United States, but also the rest of the world. This concern presents an opportunity for repair facility operators to make real progress.
As you will note from our feature that reports industry statistics on page 28, the number of technicians has grown substantially in recent years. More importantly, the projected number of job openings between now and 2010 will also be substantial. For this reason, the problems finding staff that plague growing repair facilities will continue for the foreseeable future.
Your passion and pride in the industry can serve as a model for our future technicians and leaders. Your ability to reach out to students beyond those who may be considering an automotive repair career is also crucial.Considerably more attention has been focused during the past year on this long-term problem, which has repair facility owners who are growing their business worried.
For the past several months, you have read about the many efforts underway, both local and national in scope, designed to improve the situation shops face. The I-CAR Education Foundation’s PACE-ST3 program, designed to help secondary schools with collision repair programs develop qualified entry-level staff, is moving from test markets into a wider roll-out. This is great progress for a program that was only announced last year at NACE in Las Vegas.
For many years, the pat response given to a shop operators asking what they could do in their local market to improve the quality and availability of entry-level technicians was to become active in their local trade school’s advisory board. This remains a vital element of any local effort. Participation in a local advisory board helps ensure that the skills you require of a technician are being taught and that the school has the necessary resources to teach at that level.
But, increasingly it appears that this level of involvement is not enough. Those actively involved with trade schools point to the need to become active in the recruitment process that generates the interest in the body repair field in the first place. This is an area where shop operators can have a greater impact than they have had in the past.
In conversations with guidance counselors about our industry and the need to generate interest in the trade among students, they spoke of the need for support. One counselor offered this solution, “To get counselors’ and students’ attention, bring doughnuts and coffee cups.” When I asked her what she meant by this remark, she explained that the best career support they typically received from an “industry” was that supplied by the local military recruiter. On a regular basis the recruiter visits their school—doughnuts, coffee cups and literature in hand—for meetings with both counselors and students. This counselor explained that whenever a student expresses an interest in the military, she can offer a handful of brochures and set up an interview with the recruiter. This personal approach, in her opinion, was a key factor that helped students make up their minds regarding their career choice.
While we don’t have the economic resources that the military does to employ a large staff of professional recruiters, your experience and involvement is equal or better. By reaching out to high school guidance counselors and administration and offering your time and experience as a resource for students interested in a technical trade, you can serve as an active recruiter for our industry locally. Your passion and pride in the industry can serve as a model for our future technicians and leaders. Your ability to reach out to students beyond those who may be considering an automotive repair career is also crucial.
If you’re concerned about your ability to find the technicians you need to grow your business, when you’re done reading this article, get out the phone book. Find the number of your local school’s guidance office and set up an appointment to introduce yourself and the industry. And, don’t forget to stop for doughnuts on your way.
