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Employer Quotes
The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Transportation
They are talking about this topic: Industry Trends
The quotes below are about this issue:
Participants speak of the image of the automotive industry as being outdated and in need of change, particularly in order to recruit young workers. In the case of automotive repair, the industry is often stereotyped as "greasy" and requiring only mechanical skills. In reality, the industry has experienced vast technological changes and now requires a complex set of both mechanical and IT skills. Similarly, commercial truck driving is often seen in the light of negative stereotypes that do not accurately reflect the viable careers that the industry offers.
| "Well, look at the classification of a truck driver. It's called 'unskilled.' That needs to be changed, as well. Because it is definitely a skill and it's definitely a challenge every day. If we're looking at it as an unskilled job, how is anybody going to think that's something they want to go into? I didn't look at the trucking industry the way that I look at it now. I mean, there's a definite respect once you get in there." | Central |
| "Trying to get the younger generation to say that trucking is going to be a career for the future is probably the biggest challenge right now. Everybody wants to deal with IT and they don't want to get into transportation as a whole. So there's got to be a pretty solid sales pitch on why transportation is going to be here. We talked earlier about how nothing gets here without a truck." | Central |
| "[It would be good if we could] have facilities and programs that attract people and promote the careers of driver, technician, and mechanic, all these industries. A lot of kids nowadays just think it's a dead-end job and they don't want to do it. It's not the first choice. It's not glamorous." | Central |
| "Q: So the idea then is having the image— and that's the piece that the colleges can help on. A: Absolutely." |
Metro |
| "They think it's Fonzie walking out with a dirty rag." | Metro |
| "When you look at Europe, you don't see that. I mean, I think a mechanic is looked up to more, but the U.S., those professions seem to be looked down on in the U.S. That just seems to be us Americans, the way we are." | Metro |
| "I think what we really need is a glamour campaign. We're sitting here picking out the tricky parts of our business, but I tell you what, I can speak longer and more emotionally about the cool parts of our business. Look at a lot of us. Look what we're doing. I graduated from Richfield and I was a car guy. I liked cars and here I am, so the fact that counselors will throw you and say you got to go to college, you're a bright one, you don't want to do that. Well, that's embarrassing and insulting. I think we need some sort of a glamour campaign to talk about our industry as a viable career choice for the bright, young kids." | Metro |
| "We're getting a lot of kids coming in on these programs that are special needs kids. We need people that understand electronics and we need the counselors to position these kids towards the automotive industry. It's not happening right now." | Metro |
| "I think that there's something about a program being exclusive. Say, when you look at a nursing program and you have to get accepted into the program. You have to have certain grades and skill levels to get in. You attract people that really want to do that, and they feel a sense of, 'wow, I got into this program.' So I think when you talk about creating a certain type of person and keeping them for their career, that's a big piece of it." | Northwest |
| "I think that's part of that perception issue that you have out there in schools and amongst young people. Young people today are different. They want to know what's next and how it's going to work. And seeing that picture of what they want, I think the more we can get that out, I think that's positive." | Northwest |
| "But you've got to make it more attractive to [get into the automotive industry]. You've got to get rid of that perception that you're not quite smart enough to do this, so let's put you over in the auto program." | Northwest |
| "But it's also a challenge to think about culturally. This is true for manufacturing, too. Everybody talks about a four-year college for their kids. If you think about and listen to the news, 50 percent of these four-year grads don't have jobs, and they have 30 grand in debt. So if you get a two-year degree in one of these schools at least you get to work right away." | Northwest |
| "Well, that would be my challenge to the educators. How are they portraying that to get people in their programs, and how are they going to the second-year level and saying, 'yeah, this is a great career.'" | Northwest |
| "I think it's an image thing, first. Everyone's said 'it's just a mechanic,' or 'it's just this or that.' And I don't think that's right. I mean, the mechanic has to be an extremely skilled individual. That's what it gets back to." | Northwest |
| "So, yeah, it's not the old way it used to be. And people understand that. It's not a Saturday afternoon mechanic type thing or shade tree mechanic. It's not that anymore. If there's something wrong with the car, you come walking out with a scan tool or a computer or something like that and figure it out. It's not the greasy mechanic anymore." | Northwest |
| "Now, at that level, the skill required—and most people don't realize this—even in the last five years, cars got incredibly more complex. The skills required to diagnose and repair the cars are, at the very least, equal to the skills required to be a good IT tech. So when you have someone looking to go up to school, you have the intelligence to be a good IT tech. That same level of intelligence is required to be a good auto tech." | Northwest |