Go Back   DealershipForum.com > Domestic Franchises and Independent Dealers > Ford > Service

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-13-2008, 10:53 PM   #1
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default How difficult is it to find new technicians?

The Auto Industry is in the midst of some major changes. Some franchises are experiencing over a decade of vehicle sales growth while others are experiencing record low market share.

The purpose of this post will be to survey the Service Managers to determine how difficult it is for them to find new technicians?

The survey will be posted in each franchise group in an effort to determine whether it's easier to find technicians for some franchises than for others. As an example, is it harder to find a Toyota Technician because the brand has experienced so much growth? Or, is it easier to find a Toyota Technician because of the popularity of the brand?

So, here's the question for the Service Managers: How difficult is it for you to find new technicians?

Please take a moment and post your thoughts. It will be interesting to determine if there are any trends based on franchise or location.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-19-2008, 03:18 PM   #2
sellcar17
New Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1
Default dealer

very hard to find GOOD tech. lots of people with tool boxes but that is all. young people coming from schools want big money, plus tool allowance,in this part of the counrty, the oil fields, and mining people will pay 25.00 plus for recent grads.
sellcar17 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2008, 09:56 AM   #3
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Sellcar17 - welcome to DealershipForum and thanks for the post.

Excellent point about the difference between a GOOD technician and someone with a toolbox that's looking for a job.

It's also an interesting observation about the overall job market and how it can be difficult to compete with the oil fields. I noticed the same thing when I was trying to fill a salesperson's job at a dealership - the type of person I wanted to hire for the job could make more money working at the local Starbucks.

Thanks again for the post and have a great week.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2008, 03:58 PM   #4
bruce350
New Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 25
Default

A good, experienced technician who is cerified IS working. We have spent countless thousands of dollars in factory training for our techs. If you do not have a tech on the payroll that is certifed by the factory to work on their transmissions, etc., then they will not pay you for any warranty claims containing repairs of that nature. Not that training is bad, because it is not-but, if you lose your tech that was certified in some areas that only they were certified, then you are up a creek without the proverbial paddle.

Getting a young mechanic and training him is like courting a young lady. Don't mess it up or all of your efforts will be wasted.
bruce350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2009, 12:17 PM   #5
squinky65
New Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2
Default

Try being in Alaska...training a technician costs 3 times the money because of class room locations, then you get one all trained up and he takes a job in the oil fields doing manufacturer warranty repairs in their shops.
squinky65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2009, 02:32 PM   #6
CL Pgh
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,242
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by squinky65 View Post
Try being in Alaska...training a technician costs 3 times the money because of class room locations, then you get one all trained up and he takes a job in the oil fields doing manufacturer warranty repairs in their shops.
Welcome Aboard! Liked your "cost" comparison post in the other thread... I've always felt Chrysler nickeled & dimed us to death.

Am I reading this post right??? The manufactures (Ford-Chrysler) pay outside shops for warranty repairs? That would suk! How far out in the fields do they have to be before they'll allow such a thing? Bet the Oil companies don't go thru the same bs audits we do!?
CL Pgh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2009, 09:43 PM   #7
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by CL Pgh View Post
Am I reading this post right??? The manufactures (Ford-Chrysler) pay outside shops for warranty repairs? That would suk! How far out in the fields do they have to be before they'll allow such a thing? Bet the Oil companies don't go thru the same bs audits we do!?
That's an area I have some background with.

Not only do the OEMs offer some of their Fleet Accounts the ability to do Warranty Work, the labor rate that they pay is about 40% of what the dealers charge. So for the OEMs it's actually a cost savings if the fleets do their own warranty repairs.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2009, 09:50 PM   #8
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by squinky65 View Post
Try being in Alaska...training a technician costs 3 times the money because of class room locations, then you get one all trained up and he takes a job in the oil fields doing manufacturer warranty repairs in their shops.
squinky65 - Hey it's great to have another member from Alaska.

You make an excellent point, there's nothing worse than spending your dealership's money to train an employee and then watch him/her leave for another employer.

That said, with oil back near $40/barrel I wonder if some of those oil field jobs will be going away?
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-25-2014, 02:29 PM   #9
Cookie
New Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 4
Default Very difficult

In rural Northern California we lost two real pro's. One retired and the other senior master went to Oregon to be close to his wife's elderly parents.
Now to replace them forget about it. We have to build them. I hired two guys from UTI and we are training them. It is working out fine it just takes time and money. The end result is a loyal appreciative employee that should be with us for decades.
Cookie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2014, 10:53 AM   #10
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default Epic thread bump.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cookie View Post
In rural Northern California we lost two real pro's. One retired and the other senior master went to Oregon to be close to his wife's elderly parents.
Now to replace them forget about it. We have to build them. I hired two guys from UTI and we are training them. It is working out fine it just takes time and money. The end result is a loyal appreciative employee that should be with us for decades.
Wow, that's an epic thread bump. The last post to this thread was over five years ago. (And features my predictions for $40/barrel oil... )

Concerning the topic and your comments, I couldn't agree more. Five years later and it's still hard to find good technicians and the best ones are in such high demand that when you lose one it often makes more sense to build a new one.

I'm happy to hear your two techs from UTI are working out - I see UTI commercials on many of the car shows I watch on TV (mostly on SPIKE TV) and it's good to hear that the students who graduate from their program have the skill-set to become good technicians.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2014, 04:33 PM   #11
possum
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,122
Default

In my opinion, building a Tech is easy compared to keeping him. You do all the work and expense, then some Dealership will steal him. Kinda like a Free Agent in the NFL!
possum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-02-2014, 11:10 AM   #12
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by possum View Post
In my opinion, building a Tech is easy compared to keeping him. You do all the work and expense, then some Dealership will steal him. Kinda like a Free Agent in the NFL!
Using the NFL analogy, I think the Pete Carroll strategy makes sense - find talent that no one else seems to recognize and then develop it to the benefit of both parties.

That said, unlike Pete Carroll I don't think you'll be able to bind your employees to multi-year contracts that prevent them from jumping ship looking for more money from your competitors.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How difficult is it to find new technicians? XDCX Service 8 04-13-2011 02:13 PM
How difficult is it to find new technicians? XDCX Service 5 11-12-2010 09:58 AM
How difficult is it to find new technicians? XDCX Service 0 01-13-2008 10:53 PM
How difficult is it to find new technicians? XDCX Service 0 01-13-2008 10:53 PM
How difficult is it to find new technicians? XDCX Service 0 01-13-2008 10:53 PM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 06:59 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright DealershipForum.com - 2008 - 2016