The Unveiled Truth: Auto Technician Shortage Exposed!

There is no shortage of techs, there is a shortage of good employers.

The shortage will only get worse …pay is unchanged and hours have increased…warranty work through the roof …shops have raised their rates for years and NEVER did our pay go up…when I see a shop owner that doesn’t have boats, toys, campers, 100k fully loaded diesel ford, 7 bedroom mansion in a gated community, 6 spoiled ass kids and a gold digging wife then I’ll have sympathy for the shop owners…I’ve even been a business owner myself and you know what I learned, when your best labor walks out the door and takes half the business with them then perhaps that extra 5% he was asking for didn’t seem like such a huge hit…shops are greedy and so are the dudes that own them…nobody put a gun to the shop owners head and forced them to take out loans on all the stuff they don’t need…I say good, let the industry die…I can fix my own car and I ALWAYS WILL

Flat rate made me leave i wont return

I was one class away from BMW master tech and was only making $25/hr flat rate. Asked for a modest raise and management just ignored me as if I never asked. The stress of flat rate and the toll on your body and lack of respect from everyone will never be worth $50K a year when you can make the same amount delivering food.

Been a tech for almost 13 years now. I wasn't sure I wanted to stick with it early on, and now I wish I did something else. I've got probably $100,000 in tools, maybe more (no its not all snapon), so just quitting and doing something else now doesn't feel easy at all, especially since I also have to think about how to move my tool boxes and where to put them after. Customers don't respect their vehicles. 90% are trashed and disgusting inside. They don't maintain them and then argue when it isn't a free fix. Modern cars are a wiring nightmare with harnesses being routed too close to edges and corners in every location imaginable, so good luck finding that rare intermittent concern, also they're made with a soybean coating rather than plastic. Speaking of intermittent issues, the time we have to spend is never fairly compensated. You need to have knowledge in about 5 other fields to effectively work on cars, all while being underpayed for said knowledge and experience.

They treat kids like shit when they start. Why would a teenager who loves cars sweep the floor and like it for his first year?

I left the industry last week, the money is totally shit

The employees want to pay the techs as little as possible and pay as little benefits as possible to maximize their profit. Techs have to spend 10s of thousand of dollars on tools. If you have ASE certifications you have to recertify every 5 years. If you work for a dealer they give you unrealistic warranty times on certain jobs. Now some manufactures have monthly training videos they have to watch and take a test on that is on the flat rate techs free time with no extra pay. Flat rate techs don't get paid to do multipoint inspections let alone these video multi point inspections that are becoming mandatory. Working for free and doing more things for free with no compensation is why a lot of flat rate techs are leaving and will continue to leave.

Well, well, well, looks like the business model of raising the prices of everything while simultaneously suppressing workers wages is coming to a head. It’s the same in all trades, but by far the worst in the automotive industry. Biggest problem being that’s it’s an unlicensed trade.

I was a 30 year tech. Half for Chevrolet and the other half for a large City Fleet. I advised my own Son to not go into this career. Thank God I am done with it also.

I hate when I see other click bate vids I been working on cars for 14 years now it’s not a tech shortage it’s BEEN a pay shortage

27 years deep ... and I regret spending my life in this bullshit industry

Not to mention that all skilled labours have to spend thousands of dollars on tools to do their job. When I first started as a mechanic I was paid 11 dollars flag time with the dealership charging 110 an hour to customers. Fast forward 10 years and thousands spent on tools and certifications and I was making 32 flag pay while the shop charged the customer 170 an hour. And equipment costs lmao, most of the lifts and barely functioning compressor was older than me. I had to buy a water separator so their "equipment" wouldn't ruin what I had to pay for. I also loved the writers constantly coming out and asking why the poorly maintained vehicle that has every bolt rusted to heck isn't done yet every five minutes.....

One would think the mechanic would charge the dealership or garage a daily flat rate tool rental for the repairs performed using personal tools.

Back in the 80`s I was a teamster journeymen heavy equipment mechanic. We were referred to as animals by management. During the holidays management and sales would have their xmas party that the mechanics were not invited to. We were not allowed any time for any company party ever. The real slap in the face was when they took the picnic tables from our break room for their party's forcing us mechanics to eat lunch and last break sitting on the floor. Nothing has changed and you wonder why you can`t get mechanics of any kind. eat a D America, you earned it!

I’m an ASE Master Automobile Technician with L1 certification. After 18 years with the same company as a flat rate technician I have finally found a job that pays very well with great benefits! I paid my dues and I’m glad I did. I was discouraged by coworkers when I got started in this industry and decided I was going to encourage young techs whenever I could. I have a great desire to train and encourage young techs on a large scale but don’t know how to get started. I tried at my previous job but it ended when I took my present position with my current employer. I’d love to get started again but I know I’ll need plenty of help!

Was a heavy equipment mechanic for over 30yrs and in my 40's my tools were getting pretty worn out! could not afford to replace them so I quit and went to work for a County park Dept. Was not exactly a good choice other then being a super easy job and not needing much in tools as they always kept worn equipment replaced and never really used equipment that hard. Benefits were good but pay sucked, was on a pay freeze my last 10 years before retiring!

Flat rate pay , warranty work, the expensive tools and the constant training health insurance a decent retirement are the main factors why they are in crisis in this industry c

1 problem is greedy owners dont want to pay there employees good or benefits i just left a shop that didn't pay holiday pay or want to pay hourly

Companies: We NEED more workers! Everyone: Train them and pay them to stay. Companies: Why can't we FIND skilled labor!?! Everyone: TRAIN THEM! Companies: whatever will we do with this lack of skilled labor??? Everyone: We give up. Companies: SEE NOBODY WANTS TO WORK!