Support for 18 to 21-year-olds in education and employment through a proposed government Youth Guarantee could help alleviate the skills crisis in the automotive aftermarket according to Easy2Recruit. However, the agency helping garages hire overseas talent believes industry backing will be crucial for this to make a difference to the ongoing skills crisis affecting the garage sector.
“Government support for those in full-time training, as well as those learning on the job could make a vital impact on the ongoing staff shortages afflicting the garage sector,” said Easy2Recruit founder and CEO Ambi Singh, “but industry needs to be part of the conversation.”
Last week, (Tuesday 12th November), the government announced its plans for a National Youth Strategy, which will look at delivering better coordinated youth services and policy at a local, regional and national level. £85 million from government has been earmarked for the programme, alongside a further £100 million from the Dormant Assets Scheme.
The funding will also enable the formation of the Youth Guarantee, intended to make sure every 18 to 21-year-old in England is in work or education. More details on the National Youth Strategy are expected to be included in the upcoming Get Britain Working White Paper.
“The next step needs to be a conversation between government and industry to establish how to put in place systems to kick-start recruitment and education to fill existing gaps,” said Ambi, “and to work towards future-proofing the industry for the 2030s and beyond.”
The announcement came just as the latest Automotive Vacancies Report from the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) was published. This showed there were still 20,000 unfilled jobs across the industry in September, with 3.5 vacancies for every 100 employees, placing the sector second only to hospitality in the rankings.
With home-grown talent not meeting sector demand for staff, Easy2Recruit has been helping garages to recruit technicians from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India. It manages the whole process for the garage and provides all the pastoral care for the overseas technician, from the visa application to booking the flight to arranging accommodation.
Alongside the core offering, Easy2Recruit has also launched Student2Skill, which pairs international students studying in the UK with garages looking for part-time workers, as well as the Student2Skill international graduate placement programme. Easy2Recruit is also the authorised recruitment supplier for the National Body Repair Association (NBRA).
