Understanding the Collision Tech Shortage

BodyShop Business Editor Jason Stahl discusses the collision tech shortage and what collision repair facilities can do to make sure they get the skilled help they need.

[MrBluesyoucanuse]

With 30 years experience in the industry I can tell you first hand...Crooked owners, bad management, drunks, druggies, no raises, no employee loyalty and no benefits is the crux of the shortage.

[Imnotyourdoormat]

Get Real...Insurance companies have converted the entire industry into a low-pay no-benefit sweat-shop slaughterhouse. Here in central Kentucky, a man can make more cutting grass. The whole thing is a scam to cater to the banks auto loans, who are owned by the same entities as the insurance companies. It's lopsided warped that mechanic shops receive 150.00 per hour because no insurance company regulates them, while body shops get a 50.00 per hour poverty fee...

[moparta]

I appreciate this video but you did not even touch on the REAL reason there is very little interest in anyone new entering this industry. The REAL reason nobody is wanting to do this as a career is the pay is WELL BELOW what a self motivated, smart, sober, young person can make doing ANYTHING ELSE.

Why the HELL would a smart, self motivated 20 year old want to enter a career that currently tops out (as a REAL TOP Certified Master Tech, Bodyman or Painter) at maybe 85K a year, and this is after having AT LEAST 10 years experience. For the first 1 - 5 years you will pretty much starve to death and do not forget those tool payments.

I have been in this industry (master tech, body and paint tech but mostly shop owner) for close to 40 years and have seen it all but absolutely NO WAY would I ever encourage anyone to enter this trade until the pay becomes even close to reality.

[mccoymurphy]

It's Lowest pay for health killing conditions. used to be decent money when shops paid peace rate. Owners got greedy and most pay 40 hours per week. 20 years ago I got paid $16 per hour and flagged 80 hours in 40 hours or less actual time. Owners have taken the bread and butter out for themselves. Needs to be a law against owners doing that.

[brandonmarks]

im 23 and ive wanted to do body work a while now finally got a gig at a great place its fun honestly

[pugbug]

“Why are we losing people?” Makes techs work for literary free on some jobs.

[AChampagneWeezy]

I’m 27 and been in the collision industry since I was 20 .

I know plenty of guys who make 120k a year to 150k . But then I also know people who been in the trade longer and only making 65k

Collision industry is weird, you have to be at the right shop and be really efficient on how you plan your work day out if you are paid flat rate, the painter who trained me was working less than 40 hours a week making six figures and he’s in his early 30s and has 401k and all the other benefits .

The industry is good if you have a drive, some what your own boss in this industry if you’re trying to make good money .

Another good way to make money in the collision industry is working on a team and splitting the hours.

[deathatsix]

23 years in after graduating with honors with a associates degree in body and mechanical on a 15 month course. Worked at 4 shops in that time from mom and pop to dealerships.
The problem is the shops not standing up to the ins. companies and the bs. They will pay, Poorly trained writers that can't hold their own, and no wage growth in the industry. I tell young kids all the time to go check out better paying fields. I also see a Lot of well trained and seasoned techs half way through their careers leave the field all together not just switching shops. I'm in a hard debate on this myself. I love what I do but the pay and incentives aren't there.
This was definately worded and put out from a management point of view.
Vo-tech doesn't handle true repair techniques or prepare kids for the real field, and in my area the real degree further education schools are all closed.
So who is educating, paying for it to be worth while, and fighting the ins. companies for their techs and themselves to get paid fair pay for the increasing difficulty of the work?
No incentive, and no retention of those that Do know what they are doing.
It is far and few between finding an intelligent motivated kid out of highschool.

[kenmcleod]

As a retired body shop manager
Stay clear of corporate shops. Period!

[ydnaanicep]

27 yrs in the industry alot of unqualified management and low wages for what we do in the shop on the daily

[IR_kustoms]

Long hours 💩 pay no one wants to help new techs new techs dont get paid enough labor rate needs to come up way more untill than no new techs and old techs droping out quick

[bernardwatkins]

Its not a respected field hence the low pay. The shortage will keep increasing.

[jc-rqor]

Ive been planning to swap careers away from heavy equipment becuase it completely wrecks your body and you remain in a high state of fatigue every single day. It aint called heavy for nothing, but after reading the comments this path doesnt seem to great either.

[Mklpz]

Nothing to understand! Collision Industry is dead! Young people don't want to fix cars and buy $50, 000 in tools. Go and be an electrician or cut grass people. You will be happy you did. I have seen techs not get a pay increase for 10 years.

[deathatsix]

Dont get me wrong, my job pushes I-Car certificates. But Icar is roughly a joke with little needed info and more being a for profit for a public perception of quality. Same as ASE for mechanics. All that is somewhat serious but mostly for show.
With there being no local schools, who is even teaching this? The real learning comes from hands on. My parents wouldnt allow me to go to vo-tech hence the after school class degree. But those are gone and shops dont want to pay crap for training the vo tech kids they want to bring in. One out of I dont know how many now have stayed and are working flatrate now. They move on to other fields. And then there is the issue of qualified shop writers. Mike Rowe is so right in what he says.
Anyway, yeah, lack of education, incentive, growth and true training. Who wants to hit a bottleneck industry with increasingly harder to repair cars, lack of growth, pay and now increasing delay on parts and no true accountability on times for repair(ins companies taking over the repair times) with more accountability for the repairs done. Where is the damn up side other than we used to like cars lol.
Just the tip of the iceberg of issues.

[camproadcollison]

Insurance companies are paying shops an embarrassingly low shop rate. There isn't enough money on the table to pay a reasonable wage for skilled labour in our industry.

[jme]

Wouldn’t it just be easier to say, we’re doing everything BUT raising the pay? I could make the same, flipping burgers at McDonald’s than I could killing myself in a greasy auto shop. Forget all this other shit. We need HIGHER PAY. End of discussion. Maybe there’s a good reason the trades are stigmatized, the wages have NOT kept up with the cost of living. While comparatively the white collar jobs have.