March 11, 2019—According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 46,000 automotive service technicians jobs will be needed to fill through 2026, CNBC reports. A recent survey by the Conference Board found that as economic growth continues to rise in 2019, so will shortages for both blue-collar and low-paying service jobs, CNBC reports.
“In the U.S., more than most other advanced economies, the American dream is to go to a four-year college and not have a manual job. For a while it was a not a problem because there was no shortage. Now, there is a big shortage, and people with a bachelor’s degree are just not interested in those jobs. There is a stigma connected to manual labor that is very hard to break,” said Gad Levanon, chief economist at The Conference Board said to CNBC.
The report reveals that the shortage will affect transportation, production, health-care support, food services, cleaning and maintenance occupations jobs, CNBC reports.
Michael Gerhart, master technician at Pep Boys, told CNBC the automotive industry's advancement has presented new training challenges to current industry workers.
“Cars have changed a lot, even in the past 10 years as far as the diagnostic end of things, and training has become more advanced as far as what’s required to fix the current vehicles,” Gerhart said. “It definitely doesn’t get boring and it’s always changing.”
In efforts to help bridge learning gaps, brands like Icahn Automotive have introduced educational opportunities such as "Race to 2026," to further expand educational opportunities, CNBC reports.
“I think there’s a stigma around, you know, the type of work and it’s still this old, kind of get-your-hands-dirty, greasy job. But as you look around, there’s been dramatic change in the way that a shop looks. And today’s shop is really more of a house of technology where students today should be thinking about that role as really a STEM career,” Brian Kaner, Icahn Automotive Service and Real Estate president said to CNBC. “It’s been great doing this — I raised a family on this. It’s a challenging field to get into, but at the end of the day, I think it’s worth it. As long as you can keep up with the technology that’s out there and you’re given a chance to use it, it can be a very rewarding career."
