Automakers and their retailers are getting artistic within the race for service technicians.
In February, Mercedes-Benz USA partnered with Job Corps to develop its technician ranks. In March, Ford Motor Co. introduced a $1 million scholarship fund for future technicians in 4 U.S. cities.
And Volvo Vehicles, in an effort to recruit extra feminine technicians, has redesigned its store uniforms to higher swimsuit ladies.
Feminine technicians sometimes should put on ill-fitting uniforms designed and sized for males. So Volvo aimed to create a uniform that may match ladies with out making them stand out amongst their friends.
“Whereas the present uniforms are supposed to be gender impartial, the suggestions we obtained from our feminine technicians was that the lower and material was made with a person’s conventional construct in thoughts,” mentioned Volvo Automotive USA and Canada advertising head Leigh Moynihan. A number of “feminine technicians flagged the necessity for a particular uniform to higher help them of their
day-to-day wants, as our current uniforms weren’t working for them from a match and mobility perspective.”
Volvo partnered with the Council of Trend Designers of America to present feminine scholar designers on the Trend Institute of Expertise the chance to study in regards to the automotive technician function and create outfits designed for ladies.
The initiative generated 11 designs; Moynihan mentioned Volvo has integrated “a lot of the proposed concepts.”
The feminine-friendly uniform maximizes consolation across the waist, bust and collar. It encompasses a thumb gap on the long-sleeved shirt choice to forestall the sleeves from bunching and supply heat.
Volvo technicians will take a look at the ultimate pattern design over a number of weeks. The feminine-friendly uniform, manufactured by Pink Kap, will roll out to U.S. and Canadian dealerships early subsequent 12 months.
In line with CCC Clever Options, the auto technician work pressure will decline by 4 % from 2020 by the last decade’s finish.
Final 12 months, demand for entrant technicians exceeded 35,000, however there have been simply 4,500 graduates from postsecondary collision packages, CCC’s 2023 Crash Course report famous.
The technician scarcity threatens the dealership revenue middle and may decrease buyer satisfaction if automobiles aren’t repaired promptly.
Volvo Vehicles is increasing the technician staffing pie by wanting past the male-dominated business. Girls account for lower than 5 % of the automotive technician work pressure, based on the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“We’re dedicated to hiring and galvanizing ladies — from behind the wheel to designing and constructing the automobile of the longer term — and that includes reaching a 30 % feminine work pressure by 2030,” Moynihan mentioned of Volvo’s U.S. and Canada technician ranks.
And a part of making service technician jobs female-friendly is making ladies extra comfy as they do the work, by the uniform reinvention.
“Volvo is leaning in from a recruiting and coaching perspective,” Moynihan mentioned, “and typically it is the little issues that rely — like a uniform that’s designed for the job and the individual carrying it.”