Want to Find, Keep Techs? Here’s How —

Recruiting and retaining auto technicians remains an ongoing challenge that seemingly worsens each month..

 Demand is for all levels of technicians, from entry-level lube and oil change specialists to professional and master technicians in all 58 categories of specialization designated by Automotive Service Excellence tests.

About 39,000 new service techs graduate from U.S. technical colleges and training programs each year.

Yet the industry needs to replace nearly 76,000 techs annually to keep up with retirements and new job demands. That leaves an annual shortfall of about 37,000 trained techs, the National Automobile Dealers Assn. estimates.

To address the issue and give advice on what to do about it, WardsAuto spoke with three fixed ops experts who shared their best strategies to hire and retain top talent:

Here’s what they had to say:

 John Luciano:

If you are based in a big city, recruiting and retaining technicians is slightly easier. But if you are in a rural area, like I am, you must be more resourceful in developing technicians on your own.

We’re always on the lookout for people in other jobs who aren’t auto technicians but could be. We’ve chased people who work on machines who have the aptitude to work on cars. Six of our techs have come up that way. A lot of people like that would enjoy working on cars. They are receptive to changing jobs if it means being able to fix cars. You learn quickly who wants to do that.

As a dealership, it requires making an investment. It’s costly to start from scratch, but for us, it works to cultivate and train our own technicians. We show them a career path. We give them the tools of the trade. From there, they go through brand-specific training.      

Sometimes it doesn’t work out. But the ones who make the transition to auto technology tend to stay loyal to our organization.         

Employee retention comes from following the money.

I can’t pay as much as the rates (paid to technicians) in big cities like Dallas or Houston. But I can compensate for that by giving our technicians enough ROs (repair orders). If they are only getting paid a total of five hours a day, that’s a problem for them and us.

Our service department goes six days a week, often from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., depending on how much a tech wants to work. We have flex scheduling. That’s important. That’s how you keep them.

Mark Schienberg:

The technician shortage is a chronic problem that’s getting worse. The number of needed technicians keeps going up. The number of new and certified people coming out of technician schools isn’t keeping pace.

We do have something of a crisis on our hands. Because of the shortage, there’s always someone who will grab a good technician.

To many people – especially parents – there is this sense that working as an auto technician is not something to aspire to.

They don’t get the message that these are great career jobs that pay well, better than a lot of people think. (Many master technicians earn more than $100,000 a year.)

It’s important for parents to know that today’s auto mechanics aren’t (what used to be pejoratively called) “grease monkeys” earning low wages but rather skilled technicians with benefits and pay that can be tremendous.

The technology in today’s vehicles is so much more advanced that training has been a struggle. A lot of schools don’t have the budget to prepare for today’s vocational training. Even some instructors aren’t up to speed on the latest technology.  Continual education is important.

Dealers need to be involved in training both the teachers and the students. High schools and community colleges with vocational training are feeders for us.

That’s why we work with those schools. We’re also talking to people like high school guidance counselors to make sure they understand the career opportunities available to auto techs.        

We’re fortunate to have a lot of first-generation New Yorkers who are new to the country and good with their hands. Many of them are prospective auto techs.

The work environment is important to recruiting and retaining technicians. A facility that is clean and cool in hot months goes a long way. And like any employee, good technicians want to be appreciated and see a growth path.

Matthew Phillips:

Recruitment and retaining are two different issues. Because recruitment is hard, it makes retention so much more important.

Too many dealers are trying to hire technicians from other dealerships to make their way out of the technician shortage issue.

It takes some time, but the best thing dealers can do is build that pipeline yourself.

For instance, if you employ someone who is washing cars and really wants an opportunity, and you see the potential, you give them a shot on the lube rack or at changing oil. If they manage not to blow up any cars, they can do an in-house apprenticeship. Making that possible can impact someone’s life.

We look for people with a good attitude and strong work ethic.

You take them from a job to a career. If you provide a good place to work and take care of them, you have someone loyal.

It comes down to taking a long-term view by growing your own techs. Make sure you have the culture and workplace that makes them want to stay.        
If someone starts with you and comes up the ranks with you, and you treat them well, they are usually loyal to you. It’s a long-term approach.

For all dealership positions, whether it’s sales or service, it’s hard to recruit good people.

Vocational schools are good places to get technicians. But if you are developing someone on your own, you are not competing with anyone else to get them.

We’re starting to see a renewed interest in what’s called workforce development, which is training people for jobs other than white-collar positions. That’s fantastic because there are lots of great ways to make a living. We owe it to the youth of our country to show them all the options to be successful.