What recruitment problems does the auto industry face?

While the automotive industry has suffered knockbacks in recent month - owing to a global chip shortage as well as reduced sales due to a pandemic – it remains a lucrative industry to work in. So why are recruitment numbers low enough to cause concern about an employee shortage crisis?

A prominent car dealership released a report, containing data from 527 of its employees and a survey of 1,000 members of the UK’s working population outside of the industry, to uncover the root causes of issues with staff uptake, and the main barriers faced by recruiters in the industry.

Disparities in Gender

The study, carried out by car dealer Jardine Motors, highlighted a key factor plaguing recruitment in the automotive industry: gender disparity. The disparity between men and women is not only reflected systemically in recruitment figures, but also well-documented in the study’s findings regarding external attitudes to roles in automotive retail. Clare Martin, the company’s group director, reveals in the study that 20% of the company’s staff are women – an imbalance caused in spite of unbiased hiring processes, and as a likely result of public opinions regarding work in the industry.

Said public opinions were revealed in the survey of workers external to the industry, and showed that only 15% of women outside of automotive retail would consider a job in the sector – compared to 25% of male respondents. Further to this, a mere 5% of female respondents perceived the industry to be a “warm and friendly” environment – a figure in stark contrast to that of women working in the industry, nearly half of whom see the industry as friendly.

Invisible Opportunities

These issues are compounded by a perceived opacity to career progression in automotive retail, for those working in other industries. Despite the various pathways to progression available to employees, an overwhelming majority of respondents from other industries believe there is a lack of opportunity in automotive retail: 97% of all respondents, which rises even further to 98% of all female respondents. These figures illustrate the figurative wall preventing migration into the retail industry, where 1 in every 50 women perceive any form of progression at all, let alone apply for positions.

Routes to Resolution

So, what can be done to rectify these issues? Transparency is the obvious conclusion to draw from the results covered here, but can be difficult to achieve without a package of other solutions. The answers may lay in further findings discovered by the Jardine Motors report. For starters, working hours have become an important topic for the working population in recent years, as employees seek to redress their work/life balance – leading many jobseekers to reject openings that do not align with their personal wishes regarding scheduling. The report confirms this, with two thirds of workers in other industries considering hours that suit their lifestyle a priority when choosing jobs for which to apply.

The commission-based framework for earning wages may also be a sticking point for jobseekers looking in, whether out of concern they would not be guaranteed a living wage (more than half of external respondents suggested they would avoid commission-based roles), or simply confusion over the way commission works.

The solution to recruitment issues in automotive retail is a multi-faceted one, and may not be easy to implement – but with a robust approach, the industry will surely attract new and vibrant talent, ensuring continued growth for years to come.