Many Americans are still struggling to find jobs in our post-recession country, though it isn’t for a lack of trying…or availability. See, as it turns out, there are hundreds of thousands of unfilled and soon-to-open positions in a wide variety of fields. The thing is, many of these jobs require more than sitting at a desk, crunching numbers. They require actual manual labor and technical knowledge.
As USA Today reports, one industry that is facing a serious pitfall in talent is the automotive repair industry, which is facing a serious dearth of both experience, and fresh faces to keep cars on the road.
There are many, many factors at work that has led to a shortage of new auto mechanics. Chief among them though is a general lack of interest in cars from today’s young people. Video games, social media, and smartphones suck up a lot of free time from today’s youngins, leaving precious little for cars, around which so much socializing used to take place.
Other factors include the cutting of auto class from the curriculum as budgetary concerns force certain programs onto the chopping block. There are also concerns about the cost of tools versus the actual wage many mechanics get paid, especially when there are more profitable careers out there.
But the real issue isn’t just the lack of new faces; many experienced master mechanics are about to hit retirement age. That could be an issue as cars get more high-tech, while at the same time still requiring mechanics to get down and dirty.
Fact of the matter is, kids these days don’t care about cars, and certainly don’t want to get dirty. What a damn shame…though it also means a lot of job opportunities for anyone willing to do the work.
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