DETROIT — Jennifer Briggs, GM at Volkswagen of Marion in Illinois and former dean of the Auto Diesel Institute, said dealers chasing technicians from competitors are fighting over a shrinking pool when they should be growing it instead.
“It's not a recruiting war; it's a retention war,” Briggs told her audience at this year’s Digital Dealer Conference & Expo on Tuesday (Sept. 22).
Driving the news: The industry needs about 70,865 new technicians annually, and net new technicians nationally last year numbered just 8,755, according to presentation materials Briggs shared.
“If we train 59% of what we need every year, we [still] have a 29% gap," Briggs said.
Her presentation shows that an average dealership pays a headhunter about $5,000 to place one technician poached from a competing shop.
But fees like that solve nothing, Briggs says.
She remembered a headhunter friend once offering to pay her $5,000-per-student to place graduates directly into dealerships. She said no.
"You're going to pay a headhunter $5,000 to poach you a tech, and as soon as that 12- or 24-month employment contract you make them sign [is up], they're off to the next guy, who's going to give them another $5,000 bonus," Briggs said. "That is not helping you fix the problem. You're bringing one in, and one is walking right out the back door."
Do this instead: Build a real relationship with local trade schools, and treat it like an actual partnership, not a once-a-year favor.
As in, don't call only when you need something (or someone, in this case).
That means showing up before you need to hire, not just when a seat opens up.
Get involved and stay involved; schools notice the difference, she said.
"…Having a structured apprenticeship program with a paid plan that incentivizes the student" is what actually builds a pipeline that lasts, Briggs said.
Why it matters: Because recruiting alone won't fix a supply problem.
"Our dealerships' net promoter score is negative 73," Briggs said, adding that "only 16% of technicians report that they believe our industry is improving."
That partnership only pays off, though, if it's structured well once students are actually in the shop. Briggs said dealers should build real rotations for interns and apprentices, not just busywork.
"You cannot bring these students into your shop and just have them sit," Briggs said.
For instance, she restructured her shop's schedule, routing all tear-down work to a separate line so apprentices could work through internal jobs without slowing tech turn times.
That’s a fix she made after her service manager watched a backlog climb to 25, then 37, used cars waiting to get through the shop.
More tips from her whiteboard:
Again, partner year-round, not just at career fairs, and be creative about it.
Briggs once donated a wrecked 2019 Jeep Wrangler to a nearby ASE-accredited program rather than wholesaling it at a loss.
She got to write it off, while giving students a newer vehicle to train on.
Track efforts with real numbers, and take a seat on a school's advisory board.
Briggs also suggested learning from Wrenchway.com, a free platform recently acquired by ASE, where schools post what they need, such as tools, vehicles, and advisory board members, and dealers can browse and volunteer directly.
Wrenchway also learns what service techs want through surveys, which they’ll answer more honestly than they may when talking to a boss.
OUTSMART THE CAR MARKET IN 5 MINUTES A WEEK
Get insights trusted by 55,000+ car dealers. Free, fast, and built for automotive leaders.
Pay them: Briggs said the flat-rate model that's long defined dealership pay doesn't work for the incoming generation.
"The young generation of techs, they don't like flat rate," Briggs said, adding that more shops are moving toward "base with performance bonuses or a blend."
She's seen apprentice pay range from $13 to $17 an hour, with stronger programs building in raises for every state, ASE, or OEM certification a technician earns.
Plus, new federal apprenticeship grant funding, $3,500 per apprentice, payable after nine months on the job, is set to open in October for dealers who register their program with their state or the federal government.
Techs want plans, too: Briggs said programs like those created by Lithia Motors, Inc., show a five-tier internal career ladder for technicians as a model worth copying.
"Forty-six percent of technicians say that a career path is a must-have," she said.
On liability paperwork, one of the biggest reasons schools struggle to place students in dealership shops at all, she says, "We have to get out of our own way."
Bottom line: The technicians dealers need are everywhere, but dealers still need to put in the work to not just recruit them, but retain them, too.
A quick word from our partner
Data alone won't improve performance.
Zurich Advisor IQ helps dealers turn F&I performance metrics into meaningful action. With AI-powered insights, you can:
See where performance breaks down across real deals.
Understand the direct impact on PVR and profitability.
Coach more effectively, using data-backed insights.
Track measurable improvement over time.
Request a live demo to see how Zurich Advisor IQ helps turn performance data into performance gains.
