Autocare Brisbane to present new ideas for finding and keeping technicians

With an estimated skills shortage of 30,000 automotive technicians in Australia, this year’s Autocare training and networking event will reveal new techniques to recruit and retain skilled employees.

A dedicated Autocare workshop session titled ‘The Race to Find and Keep Top Talent in Your Workshop’ promises to use real world, workable solutions, combined with the latest industry data, to provide specific industry guidance.

“If you are experiencing staff vacancies, facing additional pressure on your team, or are turning away new customers, this Autocare session is critical to attend,” said Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) government relations director Lesley Yates.

“We face a unique, challenging and changing skills environment. Traditional job ads and terms and conditions are no longer enough, and workshops need to ensure they are putting their best foot forward to attract staff.”

In addition to Ms Yates, session will be hosted by automotive and recruitment experts including Peter Rogers – National Manager of Repco Authorised Service (RAS), Ben Selwyn – Director of ACA Research, Fred Molloy – MD & Registered Migration Agent of AutoRecruiter & Konnecting Migration and Gabrielle Clift – Technician at Highfields Mechanical.

Also explored will be how electric vehicles have inevitably changed the employment pool and what businesses can do to ensure they are not competing with each other for these skills.

“Our latest research into staff recruitment and retention paints a clear picture of the challenges that workshops across the industry are facing in delivering to the expectations of apprentices, but also highlights the best practice techniques being utilised by industry leaders to support apprentices and deliver innovative and engaging training throughout their journey, said Mr Selwyn.

“These findings can help other business owners better understand the market, and provide a clear direction of what is and isn’t working to find and keep talent.”

As well as the trade show itself, attendees will have access to the greatest collection of experts tackling the largest industry topics via a broad two-day program.

The Workshop Training Program will include topics such as: The future of the aftermarket, customer service best practices, relationship building, digital marketing, cyber-security, the customer of the future, mastering difficult conversations, business planning and environmental sustainability.

The Management Training Program will include valuable topics such as: EV servicing and safety, advanced diagnosis techniques, Pass Thru technology, oscilloscopes, fuel injection systems, diesel diagnostics and much more.

A VASA booth in the trade show area will provide a great opportunity for VASA members to catch up with directors and to help engage with the broader automotive repair sector on topics in which VASA and its member has expertise.

The education-led automotive convention will take place on June 9-10 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, where a “world-class line-up of industry experts” will tackle the largest industry topics.

To register and find out more about the event, visit autocare.org.au.