Recruiting and hiring technicians is still one of the most challenging issues facing auto repair shops. At least, that’s what we continue to hear from our customers.
In order to recruit talented techs it helps to understand what is important to them. Thankfully our friends at WrenchWay conducted their Voice of Technician Survey to help us all understand where technicians stand on several important issues that can impact your ability to recruit in your shop.
What Techs Care About Most
Let’s start with a very targeted question to help your recruiting efforts, what are the most important factors for automotive technicians when evaluating employers?
- Proper equipment in the shop – 97%
- Paid vacation – 93%
- Paid training – 89%
- Retirement fund – 86%
- Well-documented career path – 78%
- No weekends – 75%
- Thorough and consistent performance reviews – 71%
- Temperature controlled building – 63%
- Adequate tool allowance – 42%
- Periodic company-paid lunches – 31%
While typical perks like paid vacation, paid training, and a retirement fund are ranked close to the top, having the proper equipment in the shop takes the #1 spot. It’s also important to note that a well-documented career path rounds out the top five.
If you are recruiting for techs and have gotten interviews but have not been successful in hiring, part of your challenge may be the set of benefits you offer. Consider using the list above to determine where you want to focus time and energy to improve your chances of landing those top interviewees.
Pay Structure
Pay structure for techs is much debated. It’s highly likely that you are going to keep whatever pay structure you currently have in place. Either way, it is beneficial to know what techs prefer. Here are the numbers on their answers to what is their desired pay structure:
- Hourly with production bonus – 37%
- Hourly – 28%
- Flat rate with 40-hour guarantee – 19%
- Flat rate – 10%
- Other – 6%
Ideal Work Schedule
When the techs were asked about their preferred work schedule, the answers were fairly bunched together. While 30% essentially said their number one priority was to have weekends off, 29% preferred four days of 10-hour shifts. Those two answers were nearly tied at the top. Interestingly, 16% said they prefer to work as many hours as possiblele. Here’s the complete data:
- Either way as long as no weekends – 30%
- 4 10-hour shifts – 29%
- Typical 5 days with 8-hour shifts – 22%
- As many hours as I can work – 16%
How might your work schedule impact your ability to recruit? Do you work weekends? Could you consider going to 4 10s? Could you offer flexibility based on what works for specific individuals?
Commute to Work
WrenchWay also asked techs how far they would be willing to commute for the perfect job. Nearly half of the techs said 30 to 59 minutes. This makes it pretty clear that they are willing to drive quite a distance for a great job. Here is how their answers broke down:
- 30-59 minutes – 49%
- 15-29 minutes – 35%
- 60-89 minutes – 9%
- 14 minutes or less – 6%
Would They Recommend Being an Auto Repair Tech to a Friend?
This one hurts. WrenchWay very wisely used the Net Promoter Score method for evaluating the answers to this question with an answer of 9 or 10 putting the tech in the promoter (raving fan) category, 7 or 8 being neutral, and 6 or below being a detractor (would actively discourage). Specifically among auto techs, 58% would not recommend becoming an auto technician.
Here’s how the data breaks down on the answers to the question of how likely are they to recommend this career to a friend:
- 9-10 – 10%
- 7-8 – 32%
- 1-6 – 58%
Consider how your team would answer this question. They are the people who are likely going to have the most influence on a junior tech that you would bring in. What are they going to be telling them about the job? If they are negative about the current and future prospects of an auto tech career, they could easily encourage that young person to pursue a different trade.
The Voice of Technician survey is filled with lots of good information. We encourage you to download the report if you are interested in seeing more at – https://wrenchway.com/resources/2023-voice-of-technician-survey-report/.