Aftermarket October 2022

on vehicles, and a desire to help people. However, just 16% said they had considered the automotive sector as a career option. Over and above common misconceptions about the industry, a lack of understanding about the range of roles, qualifications needed and salary expectations was a key factor. Influencer respondents also reported that a lack of local placements meant they were unable to satisfy young people open to pursuing a career in the automotive sector.” Fantastic route For many years, the main path into the automotive sector was via apprenticeships. However, despite a lot of noise being made over how young people should eschew the academic route and get into the workplace via such a scheme, the numbers say it all. Steve observed: “Apprenticeships are, unquestionably, a fantastic route to bring in the next generation but analysis of recent Department of Education data underlines the lack of engagement by young people and their influencers when it comes to an automotive apprenticeship. Encouragingly over 6,000 individuals started have an automotive apprenticeship in the first 10 months of the 2021/22 academic year; 52% higher than the same period the previous year. But this number is 13% lower than 2019/2020 and that is a real concern. Employers have access to Levy funds for apprenticeships – yet new data collected by apprenticeships experts, the London Progression Collaboration (LPC) showed that more than £3.3 billion has been returned to the Treasury in the last three years under the government’s use-it-or-lose-it apprenticeship Levy rules. Of the 6,000 automotive apprenticeship starts this academic year only 50% were supported by Levy funding. The money is there, the sector needs to use it.” Steve added: “There is much to be considered by government and the automotive and education sectors to address these issues and drive a U-turn in our accelerating employment crisis. Crucially, more needs to be done to showcase the industry’s career opportunities for people of all ages, abilities, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation – and ideally, this needs to be put into play much earlier in the education chain.” Tangible experiences Staying with the IMI, its Careers and Student Membership Manager Joanna Hollingdale said: "The sector needs to make itself accessible to young people, who need to ‘see it to be it’ through work experience, but this doesn’t have to mean a traditional full week of work experience. The sector should look at offering opportunities such as a work- shadowing day, open-house sessions to enable youngsters to visit different dealership and bodyshop environments, or even a bring your kiddos to work day. Not only are these tangible experiences, but they also hit the ‘Gatsby Benchmark 6: experiences of workplaces’ which schools use and in turn should are likely to be welcomed by them." The Great Resignation Then, just to make things worse, there is The Great Resignation, where people have been inspired by the paradigm shift that the pandemic presented to just walk away from unsatisfactory job roles. As Autotech Group CEO Gavin White noted, for this sector 10 AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2022 BIG ISSUE www.aftermarketonline.net it is not exactly a new experience: "The Great Resignation is a phenomenon which has been affecting industries across the UK since the pandemic. However, for the automotive aftermarket, witnessing a mass exodus of skilled workers is not a novel occurrence, in fact it’s something which has blighted the sector for decades. Yes, UK industries are in the midst of a skills shortage, but the automotive sector is potentially feeling this more keenly. “While it is difficult to pinpoint an exact time when the automotive skills shortage began, there are a number of factors which have contributed to the creation of the perfect storm we now find ourselves in. From vehicle technicians leaving the motor trade following the pull of more money and opportunities from other sectors to the mass exodus of an ageing workforce who opt for early retirement over reskilling to work on a new breed of vehicle. Couple this with a lack of apprentice investment over the years, and the demise of the industry as a viable career option in the eyes of younger generations who only see an oily, outdated trade, and the situation has become critical. This isn’t to say that the sector isn’t trying to attract new talent, far from it, whole departments within automotive businesses have been created to recruit and retain talent. But what about the independent sector who don’t have the time or resources to recruit fresh talent? “Firstly, it is vitally important that we, as an industry, encourage younger people – they are the future and the ones who will sustain the sector long after we have retired. Our job is to encourage them, bring out the natural talent. Yes, they will make mistakes along the way but don’t we all? Provide clear direction and support and you’ll reap the benefits. “Alongside the apprentice path, there are other ways of harnessing young talent. The automotive industry is still appealing to many and there are thousands who enrol on Level 2 and 3 automotive college courses every year. However, a reported 10,000 of these students struggle to secure a role in the industry once they qualify. Yes, there will be the natural attrition rate, with many deciding the career path isn’t for them, but the vast percentage do want to put their skills to good use and it’s down to the industry to pave the way for them which is why we launched Autotech Academy.” We have to promote careers not jobs, futures not short- termism and embrace new and diverse ideas ”