Technician Shortage still prevents growth of the automotive industry

For a long time now the automotive industry at all levels has been facing a significant shortfall in the amount of recruitable technicians in the UK. This skills shortage has resulted in longer waiting lists, longer development time and increased the overall parts shortage that has also been plaguing the industry since Covid. The lack of qualified technicians has had a significant impact of the scalability of many small automotive businesses causing a significantly stunted performance when compared other nations.

The recent increase in employers’ national insurance payments has not helped the situation either with many employers opting to retract their current recruitment plans causing a significant concern for motorists who now face even longer wait times to get their vehicles booked in.

According to a recent survey by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and published by the IMI, overall job postings decreased by 38% YOY with 51% of these being for Vehicle Technicians, Mechanics, and automotive electricians. The IMI believes that this is due to overall employer fatigue along with numerous failed hiring attempts and economic caution.

The IMI’s vacancy tracker notes that the Automotive industry is second only to the Accommodation & food services industry for number of vacancies per 100 employees. While many industries are struggling currently with the average across all industries being 2.6 vacancies per 100 employees, the automotive industry currently stands at 3.5 per 100 employees, which equates to over 20,000 open positions.

So, what is the overall cause of this shortfall, many blame Brexit, with a significant number of foreign technicians no longer entering the UK to work. Others blame the overall growth of the automotive industry, expanding at such a rate that the employment simply cannot keep up with demand. Then there are those that still blame Covid and the ongoing economic effects it has had on the industry. The IMI strongly believes that lack of education is the issue, and that creating a pipeline of talent through apprenticeships, vocational training, and upskilling programmes is the only way to meet the urgent demand for skills in the automotive sector.

Revive! are consistently on the look out for automotive talent and are regularly taking on gifted individuals to fill our technician teams. As the first SMART repair company to be involved with the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), Revive! has the largest network of accredited repairers across the country. We have worked with the IMI to develop the cosmetic repair accreditation – the definitive standard for professional SMART repairers in the UK. Technical excellence is a core value here at Revive! and our training team are true masters of their trade. With decades of experience, they’re the perfect people to deliver the very best training in the industry.

If you think you could be our next great SMART technician, get in touch with our team via the Careers page here.

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