Interesting artical about Auto Mechanics
 

A artical about how cars of the future are getting more and more hi tech and a computer laptop being the most powerful tool in Ones tool box. And how the Average wage of a mechanic is 35k but the skills required are more of a engineer's skill but the pay doesn't meet the work and we are running low on qualified mechanics

http://myclassicgarage.com/social/po...mpaign=15email

Today in the US junk getting 2M cells per day - cars will get the same way

In the Ag industry we are seeing more technology integrated every day and it has created a demand for a different technician than we had 20 years ago. Our wages are also increasing higher than a similar position in an automotive or truck setting. A fresh out of school tech is clearing $45K and and efficient tech can make $85k working 45 hours per week. The demand is definitely out there for a lucrative career, we just have to do a better marketing ourselves in a good light. I believe that the trades industries as a whole is struggling to find qualified workers.

I was kinda thinking about this watching a video on how the new LT4 Corvette engine is made. All those robots! who designs, builds and maintains the robots that make our cars? i bet those folks make some bank!!!

http://youtu.be/bLtZNtvc1Aw

The company I work for has some robots for palletizing .... we needed a reprogram for a new box type, something I could do but would probably take me 2-3 days by the time the tweaking was finished. We had an 8 hour window to finish it so called in the experts.

One guy on site for ~5 hours was $3600 + his travel expenses. He is doing alright.

I was a Snap On Tool dealer for 27 years. I retired last year . The Mechanics I dealt with had progressively declining salaries especially in the dealerships. The top paid Master technicians were making 28 to 29 dollars an hour. The dealerships were charging 110 to 125 an hour. To me the techs should have been in the 45 to 50 dollar an hour range.

I do instrumentation and control and my buddy who works for the local Cat dealer has been hounding me about working for them or trying to recruit other techs.
The new heavy equipment is so automated with GPS and touch screens they need electronics guys now more then ever.
Their hardest part is finding guys who are smart enough to work on the electronics yet are country / redneck enough that they fit in with their customer base and can explain the tech to them.

Robert to say this blindly without and idea on a companies personal expenses is a little harsh to say the least.

"Master technicians were making 28 to 29 dollars an hour. The dealerships were charging 110 to 125 an hour. To me the techs should have been in the 45 to 50 dollar an hour range."

I suppose you are one of those guys that think dealerships are swimming in money at $110 an hour.

390% profit is certainly ridiculous. Are you seriously going to try to defend this Mark? This is in addition to the mark up on parts and the various shop fees that are tacked on.

He's defending it because there is something called overhead. That hour rate has to cover all the equipment the building costs the support staff. I bet if you factor in all the labor burden as well they don't make as much as you think

I manage a service department so yes I am defending it. If we could sub contact all of our technicians and charge them for shop space, insurances, vehicles, and all the rest of the overhead that goes along with it I would gladly pay $50 / hour. Hell I would pay them $100 / hr and still come out better then providing them with all the benefits they are currently receiving. There are a lot of people that have no clue what all goes into their wage:banghead:

In the ag industry it cost us roughly $10k a year per technician just for training. Its not as simple as people think.

Mark I ran a business for 27 years. I retired at 54 years old. I paid my employees half my profit. That's 50%. Still I managed to save enough money to retire. So what's your point. My point is a "Happy Employee" is a productive employee.

I think pay is a sensitive subject. It must be discussed but it isn't equal. Demand will drive all.

Most service shops have a hard time billing out every hour their employees work so if your charging $100 an hour, but your service center bills out 30 hours a week and your tech works 40 hours a week there is not enough cash to say that the tech is bringing in $100 an hour. These service hours also have to cover the cost of the forklift driver on the lot, the service writer who answers the phone and writes up the RO, etc. Not to mention many dealerships sit quiet all winter and try to carry their techs.

Back to what Grant is pointing out in the article, this is absolutely true, all of our mechanics are on their laptops every hour of the day and many problems today are electrical based. You're likely better off finding a technician who understands the electrical side and teaching them the rest than the other way around.