• Business

The Existing State of Auto Technicians’ Shortage and How to Resolve It?

Prevailing Condition of Auto Technicians Shortage

The 2023 Technician Supply and Demand report by TechForce Foundation brought a glimmer of hope, identifying that the total number of automotive technicians employed increased for the first time since 2018. The trend remained unchanged in 2022, with a substantial increase of close to 50,000 in 2023 compared to 2022, when automotive technicians stood at 782,000 and 732,000, respectively.

There has been a significant demand for automotive new entrant technicians, indicating a potential for growth and opportunity in the industry. This demand can be attributed to the increase in that particular sector and occupational separations. Occupational separations include retirements and turnovers from those no longer associated with the industry for any reason.

The National Automobile Dealers Association or NADA reported that 2023 there were nearly 56,000 unfilled auto technician positions. As of June 2023, there were only 258,000 active technicians across various franchised dealerships, depicting an incremental growth of 3% from June 2021, when NADA registered close to 250,000 technicians across dealerships.

Why is There a Shortage of Automotive Technicians?

There are various reasons which can be attributed to the ongoing shortages of automotive technician shortages, out of which some of the prominent ones include-

• The ageing expertised technician is retiring in large numbers every year

• There are no women automotive technicians. As per online data, women represent less than 1.5% of the technician population

• The young technicians have B.Tech as their undergraduate

• A lesser number of technicians graduated from the top 10 largest providers of post-secondary automotive degrees

Why Are Technicians Low on Motivation?

The following are some key findings of why there’s low interest in careers related to automotive repairs-

1. Technicians believe franchised dealers offer better facilities compared to the general repair and fleet and commercial facilities

2. Technicians don’t prefer the OEM warranty work, with more than 4/5^th of them reporting that the warranty reimbursement rates have been unfair

3. Nearly 1/3^rd of technicians cited that their biggest challenge lies with the investments in the initial tools

The Future Outlook

The solution to the automotive technician shortage requires collaboration and commitment from key industry stakeholders. One thing is certain: registrations for electric cars are seeing exponential growth, with the possibility of close to 1 billion sales being achieved sooner rather than later.

A report published in CNN Business revealed that if the existing laws and regulations don’t change, the annual percentage of new BEVs (battery electric vehicles) and PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) will stagnate by 17-19% by 2050. It is also forecasted that considering that the consumer’s interest in EVs is linked with gasoline prices, the EV market share will continue to hover at somewhere around 30%, and the oil prices will be high.

All these factors eventually lead to a common conclusion: training existing technicians for BEVs would require tremendous effort. The same effort would be needed to “attract” new technicians interested in BEVs, and technicians inclined to use ICE vehicles would be required in large numbers in the future.

It is worth noting that the remedy to the above problem would require a pan-industry effort to the following-

1. Lessen the turnover of existing technicians by ensuring they have defined career paths to achieve their personal goals, with timelines and metrics – demanding a robust dedication from tech and dealers management

2. Establish and ensure a robust pipeline of technicians is in place via

• Prolonged dealership management relations with educational institutes offering automotive programs

• Deeper dealership commitments through donations, technician shadowing & career days

• Involvement of dealerships in OEM programs providing apprenticeships, continuous education, as well as certification