Local Car Dealers Innovate to Take On Employee Shortage
Metro Portland New Car Dealers Association Launches AYES Program
Portland, Ore. - Through its affiliation with a unique partnership between auto dealers, educators and automakers, the Metro Portland New Car Dealers Association continues taking steps to ease an industry-shortage of qualified automotive technicians.
The group on January 9 unveiled details behind the partnership, with the launch of a program called Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES), at the Clark County Skills Center in Vancouver. The skills center is the Portland region's first location for the program, and over the next few years the auto association plans to bring AYES to other vocational and secondary schools throughout the area.
AYES, introduced in 1995 and sponsored by automotive manufacturers including General Motors, Toyota, Audi, Honda, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, is a national school-to-career initiative that prepares students for entry-level dealership jobs and college studies in automotive technology.
"The collaborative nature of the program addresses the auto technician shortage by creating a pipeline of qualified employees who, when they've finished high school or college, will have acquired the exact skills dealers in this area and around the nation are looking for," said Christopher M. Neuber, executive vice president of the Metro Portland New Car Dealers Association. "We fully expect that those who graduate from this program will want to come work for local auto dealers."
Auto dealers support the program through on-the-job experiences, including internships in which students, between their junior and senior years of high school, work in the service department of dealerships, while being mentored by dealer-employed technicians. Dealers also assist with the purchase of students' starter tool kits, which can cost as much as $3,000.
In the 1990s auto dealerships nationwide began experiencing difficulties in finding qualified employees. The employee shortage was fueled by the increasing sophistication of vehicles the average new automobile contains at least nine or as many as 29 computers as well as the outdated image of auto repair being a low-skilled, low-paying job.
High tech innovations have changed today's automotive workplace, both skill-wise and salary-wise, Neuber said.
The presence of more computers and electronic controls in cars has improved working conditions - garages are cleaner and there's less lifting, and today'sjob applicants need a solid background in math, science, communications and electronics. Salaries for technicians in metropolitan areas average between $40,000 to $50,000 annually, with some earning as much as $100,000 per year.
And prospects for finding work are good; the industry expects to fill thousands of technician jobs annually over the next several years.
"Managing the auto technician shortage is important, since consumers have a right to continue to expect that their cars will be serviced by highly qualified technicians," said Neuber.
"The AYES program, in which students experience on-the-job training at dealerships and learn auto repair basics and relevant math, science and communications at the skills center, will prepare students for full-time employment or to pursue further college-level studies in the automotive field. It's a positive step toward ending the shortage," he concluded.