It’s important for every business to invest in its employees. When you’ve already put so much time and effort into hiring them and assimilating them to your culture, it’s a huge waste to lose them and start back at square one with someone new. With mechanics aging and retiring at a rapid pace, it’s absolutely critical to invest in your young mechanics before they start defecting. Here are three reasons why you need to start investing in your young mechanics now.
There’s a widening skills gap.
There is a large and growing demand for auto mechanics. Look around your shop. How old are your mechanics? More than half will likely be retiring in the next 10-15 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 46,000 auto mechanics will be needed by 2026.
Between a lack of interest in auto mechanic careers from Millennials and Gen Z and a tightening labor market, it’s going to be hard to fill open auto mechanic jobs. It’s important to nurture your entry-level lube mechanics, grow their skills and efficiency and build loyalty to keep your workforce strong. Providing focused, professional training and growth opportunities will improve technician retention and help with recruiting all while increasing productivity.
Turnover is expensive.
It costs thousands to replace an employee, and it’s a huge problem for the auto repair industry. The turnover rate among dealerships has increased to over 27%, according to an Automotive News article, as employees who don’t feel like they’re developing in a company are 12 times more likely to leave it.
After a couple years, your entry-level mechanics will be looking to move on from oil changes and tire rotations to more skilled operations like brake repairs, electrical diagnosis, steering and suspension, HVAC and more. If you don’t provide this training and show them the path to advancement, your mechanics will go elsewhere.
Efficiency increases profits.
Time equals money. Look at your mechanics’ hours, unapplied time, and upselling opportunities. About 70 percent of your business is focused on upselling and performing steering and suspension, brakes, general service and basic electrical operations. Are your mechanics reaching their full potential?
By training your employees to be more efficient, you’ll be able to maximize production by working smarter, not harder, to make more money.
UpSkill Auto Mechanic Training for Lube and Auto Mechanics
Shops that don’t actively accelerate young tech growth are at the same risk of losing them just like everybody else. The only problem is, how will you find the time or resources to train them?
Matrix Trade Institute’s revolutionary UpSkill Efficiency Training can help you retain and grow your mechanics to be productive, efficient and confident in upselling and performing basic operations. We offer two-week, 30-hour UpSkill Training for steering and suspension, brake repair, basic electric, and general service efficiency to help dealerships and repair shops increase the potential of their mechanics by being more productive and efficient. Over the course of two weeks, your employees will split their time at your shop and our training program to keep production going.
Local SkillUp training in Cuyahoga County can even reimburse your cost to train your workforce up to 100%. As an added benefit, your mechanics will be eligible for up to a 50% discount on Matco tools during their training, so they can minimize tool debt and come back to your shop ready to earn.
Contact us today to learn more about our UpSkill Training and see how we can make your workforce more profitable for you.