Serious shortage of skilled auto mechanics looming

LOS ANGELES -- Jonathan Hernandez figures if he is going to drive, he had better know how to fix cars. And he's well on his way to earning his degree in auto repair from Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

But the 23-year-old does not intend to put his community college credential to use as a career. He plans instead to become a tattoo artist.

"I can do a tattoo in three hours and make $300," explains Hernandez, who says he isn't tattooed himself. "Tattoo money is a little easier."

Such are the challenges for auto dealers and repair shops looking to recruit the repair technicians of tomorrow. A generation who grew up playing Xbox games instead of rebuilding carburetors doesn't seem to have the fascination with auto repair as earlier generations who grew up as shade-tree mechanics.

There is already competition among auto dealers in many parts of the nation to hire or retain good technicians. The bigger worry is whether there will be enough younger workers in a few years as a wave of midcareer mechanics hits retirement age.

"We're finding we're going to run short of technicians in the very near future," says Rich Orbain, manager for General Motors' Service Technical College. "It's already getting very difficult to get young people interested in this as a career."

Auto-repair educators say they are fighting misconceptions about the profession. They point out that fixing cars has gone high-tech. A laptop computer is becoming as important a repair tool as a set of socket wrenches. And, in a world of job uncertainty, auto repair remains a career largely impervious to being outsourced abroad.

The nation's demand for auto mechanics is expected to have grown about 17% from 2010 to 2020, adding 124,800 jobs for a total of 848,200, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Auto technicians overall earned an average of $35,790, but 10% earned more than $59,590, in 2010, the most recent year for which the BLS has data.

Wanted: Master mechanics

While high school graduates can land basic maintenance jobs such as changing engine oil, the real need will be for more highly trained technicians.

It's those at the top of the profession that the industry is most concerned about losing, the master mechanics who don't just read troubleshooting data off a computer screen, but rather put their education and experience to use to interpret clues and pinpoint a problem.

Faced with complexities of today's cars, master mechanics are being asked to deal with issues that would have required an engineering degree in the past. That problem is being compounded by the multiple new powertrain technologies hitting the market, including hybrids, electrics and advanced clean-diesel engines.

"You have paralegals and paramedics. You're getting to the point in (auto repair) that you are going to have para-engineers," says Frank Diertl, general manager of engineering services for Mercedes-Benz in the U.S.

While in the past fixing cars was more about mechanical aptitude, electronics and computer-controlled systems rule today. A typical car may have 20 or more microprocessors working together, each running software with thousands of lines of code to control vital systems, whether it's anti-lock brakes or the infotainment system.

Many auto technicians are embracing how the job is evolving toward high-tech. A survey of 5,000 auto technicians conducted by consultant Carlisle & Co. on behalf of six automakers found that the second-biggest reason the technicians chose the profession was that they like working with technology — named by four out of 10. The only bigger reason, at six out of 10, remains having grown up working on cars. (Participants could give multiple answers.)

But the same survey also pointed up the challenge: Top mechanics are getting older. Mechanics at the dealerships of General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler Group had an average age in the low 40s.

"They are going to have to replace them more quickly," says Carlisle partner Harry Hollenberg.

The looming shortage is lost neither on automakers nor on educators — both are working to drum up enthusiasm for careers in auto repair. But it isn't easy.

Kids who couldn't wait to get their driver's licenses now often are blasé. They would rather talk to their friends through Facebook or other social media than drive over to meet them. In 1980, 87% of 19-year-olds had gotten driver's licenses, according to a study released in July by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. By 2010, that figure had dropped to 70%.

"Automobiles were our social network," says Tony Molla, vice president the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, an outfit commonly called ASE, which certifies auto technicians. "Today's kids are using more electronics to do the same thing."

Of course, the more deep-seated problem that many of them also are not versed in math and science hurts recruitment, since those skills can be vital now in fixing vehicles.

High schools cut programs

It doesn't help, as well, that more high school districts have whacked budgets for auto repair programs, a key source of recruits. Supporting the programs has become more expensive because of the test equipment now involved.

"They are making hard decisions about what they can do," says Molla.

Molla says some schools have had to limit enrollment in auto repair and specialized courses. "In some areas, there are more kids applying than they have seats for them," he says.

AAA says it reaches out to 900 vocational schools across the country to encourage stronger programs and more students.

"Students are still interested, but you have to go out and actively pursue them at the high schools," says Mike Garblik, professor of automotive technology at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. "They are being pulled in so many different directions. There are so many opportunities."

Jobs practically guaranteed

Garblik reaches out to a wider student population, trying to make sure that students interested in information technology careers are aware of how much the auto industry now depends on computers.

He has another lure: a nearly 100% job placement rate.

Out at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, known to everyone as just "Trade Tech," Automotive Department Chairman Rudy Serrato also reports finding jobs for most of his graduates. And despite the misconceptions about the "grease monkey" image, "You can make good money," he says.

Serrato is a 1972 graduate of the program he now runs — and he hasn't lost any enthusiasm for the subject. Launching into teaching a summer class on heating and air conditioning in cars, he notes the thrill of troubleshooting. "It's the challenge of fixing something someone else can't fix," he says.

And that's where the skill comes in. Sure, a car's computer may spit out a "trouble code" to report what system is malfunctioning. But that's not enough. "It's a matter of how to diagnose that trouble code," says Jose Ramirez, an instructor. "You have to play around with it."

He adds that he tells the students "anyone can replace a part. I teach them how to troubleshoot. That's where the money is," he says.

Student Hernandez says he is impressed at how the job employs physics and other skills. "You really have to use your brain," he says.

Other students, such as Jazmin Bravo, 19, of Bell, Calif., seem up to the challenge. Even though she doesn't yet drive, Bravo says she entered the program because "I love classic cars," especially 1960s models.

Some students end up talking about a car as if it were a robot from another planet that they can understand.

"It can talk to you and tell you what ails it," says Felipe Morataya, 32, of Los Angeles. "You can reason with it to tell you the problem."