For dealerships, 2022 has been more profitable than previous years. Inventory is growing and, according to a Cox Automotive study from 2021, the majority of car dealers aim to expand their headcount. As CBT news noted in an interview with Angela Drake, “this means that competition for new job candidates is extremely high.”
And with 36 percent of the people surveyed in the Cox study saying they don’t work in a dealership but are interested in working at one, 70 percent of those were willing to switch jobs immediately.
However, with dealer growth, there’s also competition for employees and many dealers are finding it difficult to find enough qualified employees. Recently, the Sun-Sentinel wrote about how the car mechanic trade is dying. More of the roughly 750,00 auto technicians are retiring than entering the field. As a dealership owner, no one must tell you that it’s getting harder to find and keep good technicians and staff. Donald Hanson, service manager of an Acura dealership said, “We’re all beating the bush to try and get good employees.”
It’s not unusual, now, for dealerships to poach other dealers for talent, and some are offering sign-on bonuses and other incentives to attract techs. And even though The National Automobile Dealers Association announced new initiatives to help promote careers in the industry over four years ago, many dealerships are so understaffed that service orders are backed up for three weeks.
Why Can’t Dealerships Find Employees?
With so many online hiring sites, why is there an issue with hiring? It comes down to targeting. Sites like Indeed are designed to attract more suit-and-tie traditional 9-5 office employees. Even Indeed acknowledges this admitting it can be challenging to find more hourly, entry-level, or skilled-labor employees on their platform.
Why are online hiring portals like Indeed, Monster, and ZipRecruiter hiring deserts? We’ve found a few reasons:
- Technicians don’t have time to do resumes
- The best techs and employees already have jobs
- There’s a limited selection of candidates
- Online portals don’t have geo-targeting
- Every dealership is chasing the same employee
CNBC reports that rapid hiring and quitting will continue, so what is the solution to finding employees? Companies like Whiterail Recruits are taking note of the problem with skilled-labor employees and are stepping up with a solution for the Towing industry that may work with dealerships.
Ostrov, Partner of Whiterail Recruits, says, “It’s not just another job board. We recognized the hiring problem in the industry and launched a new platform that is exclusively blue collar, no resumes needed and allows companies to promote their jobs directly to the best employees through geo-fence technology.”
Ostrov says instead of a shotgun approach, Whiterail Recruits lets companies “advertise their jobs using geo-fence advertising where they work, live and play.” And when the recruits respond, an automated chatbot and SMS messaging take over. More importantly, Ostrov emphasizes, “No resume is required.”
When asked why no resume is essential, Ostrov said, “service employees, mechanics and other talent needed for the dealerships don’t have time. The legacy way of applying to jobs takes too long, so keeping it fast and simple is key. With our system, it takes less than a minute for the prospect to apply. And after that, a dealership can have a direct line with that prospect.”
Ostrov says, a Mesa Arizona Automotive Repair company is already using this technology. Adapting it for dealerships wouldn’t be an issue.” For auto dealerships, something like this could go a long way towards meeting their need.
Despite dealership challenges of finding employees, there are solutions. Technicians are out there if you know where to look and specialized recruiting solutions are making it easier than ever for companies to find the right employees for their business.
People want to work and with a little bit of effort, dealerships can find technicians and provide timely service to their customers. Elo GPS knows the power of technology that increases employee efficiency and customer service in the auto industry.
With Elo GPS, dealers can increase staff efficiency and your program service while you’re working on hiring. You’ll also be able to track inventory, manage loaner inventory, prevent loss due to stolen vehicles and increase customer satisfaction. So, if you’re ready for happy customers and employees, schedule an Elo GPS demo today.