July 22, 2022—The impact of the nationwide automotive technician shortage can be felt on a local level, as one Florida shop has experienced.
According to WFLA 8, Olin Mott in Tampa, Florida has seen the far-reaching effect of the shortage, which goes beyond simply hiring new people into the trade. Dusty Cox is a manager at the tire store, which also offers some automotive services.
Cox told WFLA 8 that he has noticed a trend of people coming into the profession but not wanting to start on the bottom level. Cox noted that it can take years to reach a level of high industry experience in this field.
“We start our oil change tire guys who have the less business and trying to get their foot in the door out at $13 to $15 an hour,” Cox said in the article.
Overall, the industry has noticed that technicians are quitting their jobs due to low pay and lack of long term career opportunities. Cox told WFLA that this is compounded by the fact that parts delays are still very prevalent due to yet another shortage: the lack of staff at car parts warehouses. As a result, that trickles down to a local shop's ability to order parts and execute repairs as well as routine maintenance requests.
