When Ford CEO Jim Farley recently talked about the shortage of technicians, and trades in general, it lit up the automotive comment sections like a dashboard Christmas tree.The chorus was loud: “We wouldn’t have a tech shortage if OEMs fixed warranty times!”
Sure, warranty times are a factor. But that’s not the reason we’re running out of technicians. That’s just the easiest one to yell about online. Also the one we can distance ourselves from the blame!
Let’s look at the bigger picture, the one we don’t like to admit.
We Did This to Ourselves
For years, we’ve buried techs under the weight of our own processes.We’ve layered on video MPIs, endless documentation, warranty compliance checklists, and “efficiency” tools that somehow make everyone less efficient.
We pull techs off jobs for parts issues, dispatch bottlenecks, missed walk-arounds, or last-minute “quick looks.”We chase sales goals that turn the service department into the dealership’s ATM, expected to over-perform every time sales under-deliver.
And then we wonder why techs don’t want to do this anymore.
The issue isn’t just how they’re paid — it’s how they’re used.
The Real Causes Nobody Wants To Own
Administrative Overload:We’ve turned hands-on problem solvers into data entry clerks. Every “improvement” adds another step between the tech and the wrench.
Broken Scheduling Logic:We schedule cars, not people. We book capacity based on number of cars, not hours available. Techs lose flow, productivity drops, and frustration grows.
Inconsistent Leadership Focus:Many fixed ops leaders spend more time putting out fires than optimizing workflow. We react instead of design.
Sales-Driven Profit Pressure:Service is now expected to offset the entire dealership’s financial swings. That pressure trickles down as unrealistic expectations for advisors and techs.
Talent Pipeline Neglect:We stopped showing high school kids that this career can be a six-figure, high-tech path, not a greasy dead-end. We let the image decay while other industries evolved.
Farley’s Not Wrong — He’s Just Not Deep Enough
Farley’s right that we need to invest in the “essential economy.”He’s right that skilled trades are the backbone of American manufacturing and mobility.But the fix isn’t just outside the dealership, it’s inside the service drive.
We have to build environments where technicians can do the job they were trained for.Not babysit a tablet, not re-document the same repair three times, not wait on an authorization code to finish a simple job.
The Way Forward
Streamline the noise. Tools should remove steps, not add them. Every click a tech makes should move the car closer to done.
Protect productive time. Stop interrupting techs mid-job. Design workflow around completion, not convenience.
Rethink scheduling. Tech time is a fixed asset — treat it like the currency it is.
Market the career honestly. Show young people what this job really looks like today — diagnostics, data, problem-solving — not just grease and grit.
Let leadership lead. Managers need tools and visibility to manage capacity, bottlenecks, and performance — not just react to yesterday’s problems.
Bottom Line
There’s a technician shortage, yes — but it’s a leadership shortage too.Not of people, but of focus.
If we want to attract and keep great techs, we don’t need to reinvent the trade.We need to fix how we run it.
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