How Do We Fix the Shortage of Qualified Mechanics?

In Part 1 of our coverage on the growing shortage of mechanics, we spent some time unpacking how the automotive industry got itself into this position and, more importantly, why you should care.

As we pointed out in our previous piece, no one entity can be blamed for the shortage of mechanics. From the manufacturers setting warranty repair times and the dealerships managing employee morale, to the schools responsible for recruiting new talent and reframing a negative stigma against the trades, there are several avenues that need to be addressed before any real change can occur.

But the first step? Admitting there is a problem.

A 2016 nationwide survey by Carlisle Research reported that “only 15% of technicians are likely to recommend their job as a career choice,” and nearly a quarter of them leave their dealerships each year. That’s a lot of dissatisfied workers, citing “total compensation,” “pay plans,” “dealer management issues,” and “feeling undervalued” as their top reasons for seeking other employment.

“I worked as a technician for nearly 10 years, with some time spent at the dealership and the rest with independent shops,” said a former technician who prefers not to be named. “After my wife and I got married, I decided that flat-rate wasn’t the way I wanted to earn a living. I felt like in order to be able to afford to have a family, I would need to work so many hours that I wouldn’t be able to actually see my family,” he continued.

What is flat-rate pay?

Simply put, it is a payment system that provides compensation based on the number of jobs completed, rather than hours worked. A “book time” is assigned to each job, based on several factors, including dealership overhead, manufacturer-determined repair times, and the average time it takes a technician to diagnose and fix a particular problem.

The allure of a flat-rate system is that mechanics will be less inclined to dawdle, as the more jobs they complete, the more money they make. But like most things that sound great in theory—when put into practice, flat-rate pay doesn’t always pay off. And its glaring drawbacks are an oft-sited reason for the shortage of mechanics.

Why is it considered problematic?

For decades, OEMs have continued to shrink expected warranty repair times, resulting in even the most experienced mechanics struggling to complete jobs. Why? Because, these estimates often don’t take into consideration how many different applications the average mechanic has to work with in one particular day—or the unexpected issues they might have to address along the way.

“You strip a bolt, and now you’ve just lost on that job because it’s taking you that much longer to replace a strut because one of the bolts is stuck on the housing,” says auto union rep Sam Cicinelli in a Fixed Ops article on the 2017 Chicago service technician strikes. “They have to get a torch, heat it up, tap it out, or cut it off.”

This all takes time. Meanwhile, the flat-rate clock is still ticking away. And, as expected, this stress often results in rushing through tasks—meaning poorer quality work.

Additionally, there’s little incentive for dealerships to seek alternative methods of payment. Since they, too, feel the squeeze from automakers’ reduced repair times, as well as the stress of historically low new car sales and historically high new car prices, the prospect of increasing overhead in any way is daunting.

“The only thing we sell in the service department is time. The more efficiently we use time, the better the end product is going to be for the mechanic, the dealership, and the customer,” explains Illinois dealer Tom Shirey in the same Fixed Ops article. In an industry fixated on beating the clock, a flat-rate pay system just makes sense, he argues.

And he’s not wrong. If you want someone to work fast, you incentivize the work completed, not the time spent.

So how do we fix a shortage of mechanics?

Well, while easier said than done, we fix the system. Several things need to change if the industry wants to ensure the end to a shortage of qualified mechanics.

Set Realistic Expectations

First, at the top of the food chain, automakers need to lend more credence to technician feedback. If experienced mechanics are struggling to complete semi-skilled repair jobs within a fair time frame—something’s wrong with the time frame.

No one is 100% productive, 100% of the day. If repair times were more flexible, technicians wouldn’t feel as much pressure to rush. They could devote more time to diagnosing underlying issues, instead of merely treating the symptoms. On-the-job-training could improve as well, giving top-notch techs more time to show newbies the proper way of tackling a task, offering helpful tips and pointed feedback along the way—as opposed to merely getting the car out the door.

Create A Healthy Work Environment

In an interview with 41 Action News, John Schupp, the owner of Sci-Tech Automotive in Rayton, Missouri, said, “If you’re smart enough to fix cars today, some of which have 30 and 40 computers on board, you’re smart enough to be a network engineer or a computer programmer, all manner of well-paying jobs.”

Jobs that usually come with healthcare, a 401K, and an air-conditioned office. What’s interesting, however, is that while these types of benefits ranked as important to automotive technicians in the previously-cited Carlisle Research survey—they weren’t at the top of the list. The most-cited factors were, by contrast, alarmingly elemental. Practical work schedules. Steady pay. Training support. Essentially, a healthy work environment.

Dealerships don’t have to break the bank to express employee value. Yes, reevaluating the method of compensation is going to be a big, industry-wide nut to crack. But small-scale changes can yield big results, and they can be implemented with little risk.

Tool discounts, school credit reimbursement, advancement opportunities, and even just a simple system of recognizing hard work can all go a long way toward employee retention. Some dealerships have instituted supplemental pay plans to ensure their employees aren’t getting shortchanged by the flat-rate system. Even small initiatives, like refocusing training efforts and properly assessing talent can help place the right employees in the right places, ensuring higher morale and greater productivity.

Encourage Honest Recruiting

As we stated in Part 1, trade jobs are suffering some unfair PR these days. And while many technical programs are successfully combating the stigma—marketing automotive education as a STEM career, recruiting underrepresented young women, and dispelling the myth of the “grease monkey”—some for-profit schools are using less-than-scrupulous tactics to attract new talent.

In addition to promising unrealistic starting wages and potential six-figure salaries, some programs are even struggling to provide proper instruction. “We just hired a ‘green’ kid: 20 years old, trade school grad, and he just did his FIRST oil change,” vents a 40-year veteran mechanic in an online forum. “He never dismounted and mounted or balanced a tire until today. He did not know how to pressure test a cooling system because no one showed him how.”

This is not to imply that all for-profit technical schools are bad news. However, for caution’s sake, young people interested in the automotive field should be encouraged to first explore programs at their local community colleges. The Washington Post reported last year that of the roughly 803 national programs that failed to meet federal education thresholds, 98% were offered by for-profit schools with 2% offered by non-profit private schools. None of the community college programs failed.

Shift the Myth

Spread the word. We can’t fix the shortage of mechanics if people don’t actually know there’s a shortage. Share news stories and blog posts like this one on social media. And help combat the false narrative that trade work is somehow “less than” by supporting local training programs—with your wallet, your voice, or both.

Be a mentor. If you happen to be in the biz yourself, explore new training opportunities, to further your own education and be sure to share them with coworkers and young recruits who might need some guidance.

Keep wrenchin’. Sharing your passion for car culture ensures it not only survives, but thrives.