August 21, 2019
Toronto, Ontario — August 21, 2019 — The results of a survey from the Boyd Group suggests that technician shortages are becoming “less worse” throughout North America. Translated into English, the 2Q19 Collision Industry Survey results suggest that, despite the industry still suffering from low labour and technician availability, the problem is becoming less acute.
“Our survey data suggests this issue could finally be stabilizing—or perhaps even improving on the margin,” read the release, showing an overall upward trend from this time last year. They contrarily observed, however, that 35 percent of the 157 respondents felt that availability actually worsened since 2018’s third quarter.
The survey also looked into what actions the collision repair respondents were taking to improve worker recruitment and retention. It found that the most popular “preferred mitigation strategies” seem to be increased incomes and better career planning, though they appear to be fading in the past half-year.
The more consistent option is to enhance employee benefits. According to the 2019 Collision Repair Education Foundation and I-CAR study, almost 70 percent of shops provide health insurance, with only 30 percent offering life insurance.
The survey trend marks a positive change for industry efficiency, but with 60 percent of respondents noticing no change, only time will tell.
