TechForce CEO warns collision industry risks being left behind in skilled trades workforce push

The pendulum is swinging, and major corporations with deep pockets are discussing the skilled workforce shortage, but that also means competition for a seat at the table will intensify, Jennifer Maher, TechForce Foundation CEO, told Repairer Driven News.

​“I worry that I don’t hear that same momentum in the collision industry,” Maher said.

​The U.S.Bureau of Labor has identified 47 different technician jobs using its standard occupational classification (SOC) system, Maher said. She said this includes everything from wind turbine techs to elevator technicians.

​“We’re all competing for the same person,” Maher said. “The person who is curious, likes to problem solve, takes it apart and puts it back together, gets a thrill out of making things work.”

​The collision industry competes with all of these different technician sectors, she said. The industry is also competing with all of the skilled trades, which include electricians, construction workers and plumbers.

​“You can’t just look at how to build collision techs in the collision program,” Maher said. “You have to cast your net really wide. We’re competing with all of those sectors.”

​Technicians are often overlooked in the conversation, she added.

​“I call them our hidden heroes because we all need technicians and we need to recognize and start talking about the importance of those service and maintenance technicians,” Maher said.

​As the pendulum swings, the conversation is heavily focused on construction jobs.

“I appreciate the need to bring back manufacturing and build more plants, build more housing, and build more data centers. That’s exciting and great, but in my world, I’m asking how do we keep what we have moving?”

​If technicians get lost in the conversation, then people will find themselves waiting on the tarmac because of a shortage of airplane technicians or waiting two months for their vehicle to be repaired because of a shortage of auto technicians, she said. 

​“Techs are important and we need to be at the table,” Maher said. “That’s the bottom line, technicians need to be in the headlines and they need to be part of the excitement around the skilled trades.”

​The top 10 technician fields identified by the U.S. Bureau of Labor adds up to a workforce of 7 million people, she said.

​“Collectively they are a huge force but they are buried, hidden and not talked about,” Maher said.

​Even under the Bureau of Labor’s classification system, technicians are scattered throughout different industries including transportation, energy, industrial manufacturing and construction, she added.

​TechForce’s “Technician Supply, Demand & Opportunity Report.” found the U.S. economy is short roughly 140,000 skilled technicians a year, and the gap is widening, with 73,354 new collision repair entrant technicians needed by 2029.

​It found that the collision repair sector sees the highest turnover of the 10 analyzed at 60.7%.

​Maher said TechForce Foundation continuously polls its 125,000 aspiring working techs to see which industries excite them.

​“I am worried about the collision industry because it does not resonate above the fold,” Maher said. “It is way down, way down on the list.”

​That is going to be a recruiting challenge for the collision industry, she adds.

​“It is a supply and demand economy,” Maher said. “When you look at wages, it’s not at the top. If it’s the same type of person and they start to learn their options, thanks to AI now, they can just ask. In the past, they didn’t know how to compare and they weren’t going to do that much research.”

​For every 10 collision techs needed, schools are only producing four, Maher states.

​“That leaves us more than 8,000 techs short every year, and what scares me most is that 6 in 10 leave their job every year,” Maher says. “Retention is just as big of an issue as recruitment.”

​Ford is one catalyst swinging the pendulum and auto and collision technicians have been a part of that conversation.

​CEO Jim Farley launched the ACCELERATE The Essential Economy event last year to start the conversation. It was held again last month.

​Through the event, the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades was started and the State of America’s Skilled Trades: A National Report was funded.

​The Alliance has brought together major companies such as BlackRock, Google, Carhartt, NVIDIA, Microsoft and Milwaukee Tool to fund initiatives focused on the shortage.

​The State of America’s Skilled Trades report found the employment growth rate for automotive body and related repair to be 0.6% between 2019 and 2025.

​It also found that Auto body and other related repairers rank 118 out of 525 other occupations facing national shortage pressure.

​“Ford is looking at industrial manufacturing, who is repairing the conveyor belt, the robotic techs. And Ford dealerships are all over the country,” Maher said. “They know their product and their consumer and the challenges when it comes to hiring boots on the ground. Which is why they’re investing in solutions”

​Ford Motor Company and Ford Philanthropy make up TechForce’s largest donor at $4.5 million.

​“They support scholarships for people to become auto tech with no strings attached, “ Maher said. “It’s not like you have to go and work for Ford.”

​Ford has been at the forefront of having a strategy and a plan for the shortage, she said. 

This includes Ford addressing the transportation issues that make a student dropout through a partnership with Lyft.

​Other OEMs are also working on the issue but everybody needs to invest to get students to the finish line, she added.

​“It is not just enough to change or enhance curriculum; people want faster, shorter ways to earn the credentials or training and get to work,” Maher said. “How do we accelerate that learning? How do we have more apprenticeships because retention continues to be a hurdle, especially in the collision industry?”

​TechForce believes students need to understand what the job really entails and that is through job shadowing, apprenticeships and a day in the life content.

​The organization is working on building AI tools for Gen Z so they can receive the information in a way that they want it.

​“We also have to help students throughout the workforce journey, through that funnel,” Maher said. “It’s not enough for TechForce to give them a scholarship and wish them well. There are so many other challenges: transportation, childcare, food insecurity. Life happens.”

Five-hundred dollars is the difference between keeping them in school or them getting derailed, Maher adds.

​During the ACCELERATE event, Farley also pointed to data from the new report that shows high-quality apprenticeships that include apprentice support are more likely to lead more workers into the economy.

​The report found traditional training methods had only about a 50% completion rate. It also found that high-quality apprenticeship programs have a completion rate of more than 90%.

​”We need the social programs to help and support, and we need the programs to be accredited and we need employers to be connected to these apprenticeships so that the people have a job,” Farley said.

​This is one way that collision shops can be a part of the solution, Maher said. A $500 donation could help one more student make their way through the program.

​“I truly believe if everybody isn’t a part of the solution, then they’re going to be part of the problem,” Maher said. “I have attended conferences and tried to let the collision industry know that TechForce is here and what we do. Yet, after three years, we have only two donors: LKQ and OEM Collision Roundtable.”

​Maher says that the collision industry is very generous to other educational programs that don’t provide scholarships to students or help them learn durable skills or get jobs.

“They don’t get the students through the funnel and into industry careers,” Maher said. 

​The industry needs to diversify its contributions for the best result, she adds.

​“That would be my challenge to the industry. Ford and others are looking at multiple ways to solve the problem and it is not a one-hit wonder,” Maher said.

​During the ACCELERATE event, Maher told the crowd that the organization has 125,000 students in its network who want to become professional skilled technicians.

“I used to award 1 in every 6 scholarships; the demand is rising now to 1 in every 10,” Maher

said. “The people want to do the work, but they need some support for that one year or so to get trained so that you can hire them or find that you exist. The fact is that TechForce has more demand from aspiring technicians than we have money to support. That is an investment worth

making. They are already here; help us get them to you.”

​Collision shops can individually be a part of the solution by contributing in a few ways, Maher said.

​A $1,200 a year donation supports a Boys and Girls Club of America dinner. This allows shops to say they are a TechForce champion and allows them to go into area schools that have the program, she said.

A $12,500 donation can fund a named scholarship in your community, Maher adds. Shops are able to see tuition scholarships go to aspiring techs at their area schools and volunteer locally, she said. You can meet your awardees, and promote their success through local papers with the help of TechForce.

The scholarship can also be promoted through local papers with the help of TechForce.

To help recruit technicians, shops should also look at their culture. 

​Gen Z is a gaming generation, Maher said. They need a plan to level up.

​”Have a career path mapped out for people,” Maher said. “We have an entry-level position. We make sure you can perfect A, B, and C. When we see you can accomplish and master those skills, we move you to level B.”

​Shops should also look at their atmosphere.

​“It’s a supply and demand economy,” Maher said. “They can pick and choose. So what’s your pay? Do you have air conditioning or not? Do you make women wear boxy male uniforms?”

​Maher said another culture change would be to actively welcome women.

​“Women are less than 4% of technicians across the trades,” Maher said. “If you want to solve a shortage, welcome to 50% of the population.”

​Women are more likely to graduate college than men but men are more likely to graduate trade school, Maher added.

“Why?” Maher said. “It’s called self-doubt. When you are the only female in the classroom and you are getting harassed, you’re like, ‘I’m out of here. I don’t belong.’ Create a sense of belonging. Ensure they feel supported. Have a female tech be part of the interview, then women would see themselves in the industry.”

​The industry should also tap into what makes it unique, Maher said.

She explained how TechForce did a public service announcement for the collision industry a couple years ago, interviewing collision students for the script. The word students continued to use was “art.” 

​Students said they loved that they took a crashed vehicle and put it back together.

​”There is pride in that work,” Maher said.

​The video is free for any collision shop to download and share to promote the profession, she adds.

​Shops overall may feel helpless because they haven’t seen a return on investment when donating to workforce causes.

“I encourage them to look at multiple solutions–various organizations– because it is really not a one-hit wonder,” Maher said. “A lot of us have to do different pieces to make a dent.”

Image

Feature image of Jennifer Maher, TechForce Foundation CEO, at ACCELERATE courtesy of TechForce Foundation.