They say the best way to get people interested in something is to start them young. That’s exactly what Jerry Weston Jr., a collision repair instructor in Flint, Michigan, is doing. Automotive News reports that Weston is running an afterschool program not for the high schoolers he usually teaches, but children between five and 13 years old, introducing them to various aspects of the auto collision repair industry. The children yearn for the shop lift.
We already know there’s a mechanic shortage. A similar shortage is looming for collision repair, an industry that’s a lot less visible until you suddenly need its services after a crash. The problem isn’t just that older workers are retiring faster than young people are replacing them, though that is part of it. According to Weston, kids these days don’t know one end of a screwdriver from the other.
“I have to go through a whole lesson on screwdrivers — the different types and how to use them,” Weston told Automotive News. In today’s disposable culture, we replace things rather than even try to fix them. Many items aren’t made to be repaired, except perhaps by authorized personnel with needlessly specialized tools. If you don’t use knowledge or skills, you tend to lose them, and you don’t pass them along to your kids. It’s not their fault, but that doesn’t make the problem go away, either.
Collision repair goes high-tech
At the same time skills are declining, the collision repair industry is embracing the new technology that comes with modern cars. It’s not just about frame straightening and body repair anymore. Those are still necessary, but as cars become more computerized, collision techs find themselves replacing and calibrating sensors of all kinds for driver assistance systems. Even a simple windshield repair has become incredibly complex and expensive due to all the sensors involved.
Fortunately, young people who grew up with technology have an edge on using it, setting them up for success in the evolving industry. In a survey by CCC Intelligent Solutions and the Collision Repair Education Foundation, 95 percent of respondents said they would be more interested in pursuing a career in collision repair if they knew it involved advanced software tools, not just a ball peen hammer.
That’s where people like Weston come in. He hopes to capture their interest early, with a hands-on approach to tasks like painting, polishing, and dent removal. Students even try some tasks, like painting, through virtual reality. From Automotive News:
“It’s one thing to tell somebody what painting is,” Weston said. “But if I can put a headset on a student and let them actually do it — without the fumes or the cost of materials — that really gets them excited.”
Enabling students to try these repairs, virtually or otherwise, shows them what the work involves, as well as explaining the high-tech aspects of the job. Those of us who work on our own cars already understand the satisfaction it gives us. Weston tries to share this with his students, hoping that by finding tasks they are good at and enjoy, they might even pursue a career doing it one day.
More than one way to make a living
For years, we’ve been told that college is The One True Way. However, with so many people drowning in student debt and struggling to find and keep a job these days, more of today’s students seem to be seeing through this lie. The CCC Intelligent Solutions and the Collision Repair Education Foundation survey also showed that 77 percent of respondents wish they’d known earlier about other career paths than a typical four-year college degree. They also see collision repair as steady, financially promising work with potential for advancement. That’s more than many college graduates have these days, unable to find work in their fields and taking whatever jobs they can find to get by.
A college education is certainly not a bad thing. Someone has to engineer the cars we drive, and that takes highly specialized knowledge. But college is not a “one size fits all” solution, either. That belief has led to worker shortages in all the trades, not just automotive ones.
