Technician Shortage Worsens Because Millennials No Longer Have Basic Problem Solving Skills

If the sticker shock faced by car shoppers in the showroom isn’t enough to provoke a cardiac episode, a visit to the dealership’s service department might do the job. That’s where a tire-kicking customer is likely to spot the sign announcing labor charges upward of $125 an hour, a rate typical in cities and at the low end for luxury brands.

Besides chest pains, the number might also elicit a gasp of realization: “That’s way more than I earn.”

It’s true that a mechanic wielding wrenches is not paid that hourly rate — the shop’s cash flow must cover sophisticated diagnostic tools and contribute its share toward the dealership’s prime real estate. But top-level technicians in the field can earn $100,000 a year after achieving master mechanic status and five years of experience, said Robert Paganini, president of the Mahwah, N.J., campus of Lincoln Technical Institute.

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MDarringer - 5/3/2017 6:52:10 PM

-1 Boost

I'm so tired of friends asking "Do you have a guy who..." as if nothing can be done without having a "guy" to do it. One had a failed light switch in the kitchen and could not replace it. I have so little patience with people who think it's OK to know nothing.

Flat tire? Call a tow truck!

TomM - 5/4/2017 3:21:43 PM

+2 Boost

One must remember that the Mechanic does not EARN the Labor Rate - probably not even close. That "rate" includes basic costs of a repair shop doing business - from insurance to utilities to training to special tools (Most mechanics have their own regular tools but not the specials) to the cost of the building itself. THAT rate is not even close to what many Dentists and Doctors charge for asking you to open your mouth.

However - not having the skill set to repair a car - does not mean that millenials do not have basic problem solving skills - what it does mean is that there are DIFFERENT PROBLEMS that people learn to solve. I would suggest that most mechanics probably cannot perform successful brain surgery - might stumble making scones - and likely cannot design the computer systems that they work on. What HAS happened is that - at least for a time - low end skills - like Plumbing, car repair - and others were looked down upon - so fewer people considered them. And as a result - fewer people learned the required skills.

THere is basically nothing really "special" about basic plumbing or car repair that the average American cannot actually learn and do successfully. As in many other fields - there are specialties (I specialized in Transmissions) where labor rates may even be higher. THere is a "guy" on you tube named Scotty Kilmer -who shows people how to do many basic and some not so basic repairs - I would suggest that if HE can show people how to do it - others can learn how to do it - they just need the correct education.

NewQ - 5/3/2017 9:22:45 PM

0 Boost

I come here for spy shots and up to the minute rumors of the next generation of vehicles. Those are great!

But, this is nonsense.

The article is about differing skill sets and interests among young people, and to some extent the way in which career/prep trajectories have changed over the years.

It has nothing to do with how "stupid" or "lazy" "Millennials" are.

Every generation thinks theirs was the last good one, and the new one sucks; they just have a hard time dealing with the fact that they're not the young target demographic anymore. I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I'm older, no matter how much I try to fight it.

MDarringer - 5/3/2017 11:16:25 PM

0 Boost

Be that as it may, my generation embraces learned helplessness.