Search the Community

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the technician shortage is the hottest topic and challenge in our industry. My guest Cecil Bullard from The Insitute has a plan to solve the technician shortage. It involves a $20 increase in your labor rate and how that money gets distributed. Sounds too good to be true? Good! Cecil Bullard, President of the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. Listen to Cecil’s previous episodes HERE. Key Talking Points From Cecil's White Paper Recent surveys and articles in the industry point to the fact that 73% of shops need to hire one or more employees in the next 12 months and that for 85% of those, it would be a technician As much as 29% of the technicians are over 55 years old, and they are aging out of the industry Only 15% of our industry is under 35 while 29% is over 55 Every Automotive Service and Repair Business in North America will move their labor rate up $20 per hour tomorrow. We use $10 of this to increase the pay of every technician and/or mechanic working in our shops immediately. We make it financially appealing to come into our industry by moving the wages up substantially. If every shop (or 90% of the shops) do this, it would change our industry for the better dramatically. We start new technicians that are learning at $25 to $35 an hour or $50K to $70K per year (a real living wage where they can support themselves and buy tools), and we pay veteran A-technicians $45 to $65 per hour or $90K to $130K. We take $5 of the increase and make sure we have a full benefits package. Medical, vacation, dental, a reasonable amount of sick days, a good retirement plan, all national holidays off with pay, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, as well as anything that other professional jobs offer. We take the other $5 of the increase and join a non-profit organization that will market to the mothers and fathers out there (and potential technicians) and let them know that being a technician in a modern shop is a cool job, is financially viable and every bit as professional as becoming a lawyer, doctor, dentist, programmer or professor. Lastly, every shop owner books an appointment at a college, auto tech school, or high school and ‘volunteers’ their time to talk to the students, teachers, and administrators about our incredible industry. The Institute Summit Connect with the Podcast: Aftermarket Radio Network Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Follow on Facebook Become an Insider Buy me a coffee Important Books Check out today's partners: Set your sights on Las Vegas in 2022. Mark your calendar now … November 1-3, 2022, AAPEX - Now more than ever. And don’t miss the next free AAPEX webinar. Register now at AAPEXSHOW.COM/WEBINAR. Shop-Ware: More Time. More Profit. Shop-Ware Shop Management getshopware.com Click to go to the Podcast on Remarkable Results Radio

A topic that I’ve become more and more interested in is the future of our industry, specifically when it comes to Technicians. I returned from the Spring Leadership Days in Orlando by Auto Care Association with an entirely new outlook, continuously reminding myself: What can I do to help strengthen our future? As I scroll through my Facebook feed, reading through various forums and private group comments, I constantly hear about the Technician shortage and have been over the past few years. Does that raise any concern that we’re still talking about this after several years? As I read through the comments in hopes to find solutions, regrettably the majority of the comments are not solutions to the problem. So, my hope is to find a solution and identify what action I can personally take to help strengthen our future and do my part. I don’t want to spend anymore time talking about what we already know (tech shortage), and watch our industry reduce to rubble in the years ahead. Not on my watch… and I know a lot of you are with me! Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months and months turn into years. Let’s not wait! As I visit shops around the country, which is my favorite thing to do, I notice a common pattern in the workflow. Nearly 70% of the shops that I have visited in the past year have empty bays. For example, a shop in the Bay Area I visited recently had 8 bays, but 4 were empty. They had 2 Technicians, who both told me they’re extremely busy and this has become the “norm” until they hire more Technicians. Of course, the owners have “tried everything”, but what does that mean? Have they really tried “everything”, or are they looking for a band-aid to fix the short-term problem and not thinking about a long-term solution and preparing for the future? Shops are busy right now and business is booming for most. So even though they have the Tech shortage issue on their minds, it’s less of a priority right now because they’re busy! It reminds me of what one of my favorite industry coaches (and friend) told me one time about “Panic Marketing”. Business slows down, then we expect our marketing company to step up some SEO or Ads and get cars in today, when in reality you have to plan out your marketing 6-months or a year in advance. So what do we do when we have empty bays and a Tech shortage? Many will simply place an Ad on Indeed, cross their fingers and hope for immediate applicants! That quick-fix strategy will never work. But what will? There are shops out there with effective strategies that actually work well. Look at what they’re doing and get some ideas. Joe Marconi has some awesome tips on hiring great people. Having worked directly with Joe, I’ve seen the success firsthand. But for me personally, I’m more interested in the long-term and getting the “younger generation” interested in our trade. I think this will help shape our future. But how do we do this? Someone once told me, if every shop ran an Apprenticeship program, this would help solve the problem. Is that the silver bullet? If not, what is?

Got your attention? Good. The topic of the tech shortage has been discussed, kicked around, and debated now for decades. It is nothing new. So, what are YOU doing about it? If we wait for some "entity" to solve our tech shortage, we will be waiting forever. Here is what I think, and tell me how you feel about this: All shops need to start an apprenticeship program Shop owners need to attend career days at the local high schools Shop owners need to reach out to tech schools and post-secondary auto tech schools and let them know of their apprenticeship program Shop owners need to improve the work environment to increase their employee retention rate Shop owners need to sit down once a quarter, do the math, know what they need to be profitable, and put a plan together to raise their employees' wages, including their own! Thoughts? Comments? Opinions?

With so much talk these days about the technician shortage, I thought it would be a great idea to share a few recruiting tips that have helped. What tip can you share that you have had great success with?

Below is a link to an article in Ratchet and Wrench Magazine about what Valvoline is doing about the tech shortage. The aftermarket needs to look at social media and other unconventional ways to bring techs to our industry. https://www.ratchetandwrench.com/articles/7471-Valvoline-launches-auto-career-platform

There’s no denying it, we have technician shortage problem. In fact, we have a shortage in the country in all the skilled trades. And unless we solve this issue, we will find it very difficult to conduct business. We can blame this problem on many things, but the time to assign blame is long gone and serves no useful purpose. The only issue remaining is what to do about it. Here are few thoughts. Please read them and please think about your own shop and your own personal obligation to the industry. And of course, let us engage in an open discussion on this issue. 1. Do all you can to become profitable. Yes, profit, that’s one of your responsibilities as a business owner. The other reasons for profit: to be able to pay yourself and your employees the income you and your employees deserve. Also, the more profitable you become, the more you can offer benefits. Let’s limit the discounting and charge accordingly. Also, we need to attract qualified people to our industry. That means, we need to offer a competitive wage with the opportunity to advance. 2. Shop owners, think of yourselves as professionals and conduct yourself in that manner. 3. Create a work environment where people enjoy their work and help to attract quality young people 4. Reach out to your local high schools and give career presentations 5. Reach out to all the trade schools and community colleges that offer automotive programs. Let them know that the independent shops need their graduates. Also, check into returning military veterans and retiring veterans. 6. Create an internship program that allows young people in your community to shadow your seasoned technicians. Mentor these young people 7. Create an apprentice program for entry level techs. Many shops are already doing this. An apprentice spends time in shop for a pre-determined length of time. He or she is then offered a position in your shop or is helped to find employment elsewhere 8. Become active in your community career fairs and career days at high schools 9. Lastly – Please reread bullet point number 1 There’s my list, please let me know your thoughts and what would you add to this list. Let’s act today, so we can secure our future!