20 November 2008
Tech HR
Break the Tech Shortage
If you’re experiencing a tech shortage at your shop, you’re not alone. Addressing the problem requires both long-term and short-term strategies.
Photo : Stephanie Hoffman from B.C. concentrates on the task of looking up
electronic service information, a task technicians perform regularly, at the
13th Annual Canadian Skills Competition, held in Saskatchewan in June 2007.
Psst… have you heard about the tech shortage? Sure, we all have. But have you felt it yet? Have you experienced it at your shop? The answer to that question may depend on where you’re located and the caliber of techs you might be looking to hire at present.
Like most economic issues, the tech shortage— whether you feel it at present or not—is a complicated issue that won’t be easily rectified. The reasons for the shortage are numerous and include such factors as the imminent retirement of Baby Boomer-aged master techs, the misguided perception that “auto mechanics” is a profession only for those who likely won’t succeed in white-collar positions, the growing complexity of modern vehicles, the lack of motivated youth eager to work and study hard, etc.
Finding solutions
An industry-wide shortage, some experts say, is inevitable. There will come a time when the industry as a whole will experience a hunger for techs at the highest, most experienced levels. So what can we do to curb the brain drain?
On a ‘big picture’ level, it is our responsibility to promote the industry and let others know just how exciting and rewarding a career as an automotive tech can be. The people we need to convince are the parents of the students currently contemplating career choices, the guidance councilors and school officials whose job it is to suggest a career path, and the public in general since that’s where perceptions begin.
The goal should be to explain to naysayers that today’s automotive techs are computer literate, mathematically-inclined, multi-tasking technicians with skills and abilities that would easily suit an engineer. They could all easily fit into a traditional white-collar environment, but prefer to use their nowledge in the automotive trade. It’s not a matter of choosing between a rewarding career or working on cars—today’s techs are professionals who can do both.
Today’s vehicles are too sophisticated and complex to be worked on without advanced skills, and modern
“mechanics” spend most of their times analyzing data on a computer screen—far removed from the demeaning stereotypical ‘grease monkey’ persona o f decades gone by.
Finding your techs
Although cheering on the industry in general will help curb future shortages, it won’t help you find and hire the techs you need now in order to keep your business running and prospering.
Dealing with immediate needs and shortages might require shop owners to rethink their employee/employer relationships while addressing related issues.
For starters, some experts believe that today’s top techs no longer work for you, the employer, so to speak. Instead, A-techs are more like customers in the sense that you have to attract them to your business, give them reasons to stay, and keep them happy so that they aren’t tempted to quit and find a job with one of your competitors.
Although that’s putting the whole employee/employer relationship on its head, some experts believe this is the new reality.
Today’s top techs expect to make a good living, so paying them sub-par wages just won’t do. They also expect to have the right tools and equipment at their disposal, as well as access to advanced ongoing training… but that’s to be expected in a market where the right people are in demand and job opportunities for them abound.
The tech shortage problem will likely take years, if not decades, of effort to address. In the meantime, shop owners will have to change the way they think of their employees and do what it takes to hold on to the rapidly diminishing number of qualified men and women. | 
