Automotive vacancy rate hits a new high

Institute of the Motor Industry warns that the motor industry faces a systemic crisis unless perceptions change about career opportunities.

The latest Automotive Labour Market Briefing from the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has revealed that the sector’s job vacancy rate has bucked the trend by continuing to rise while rates in most other industries have fallen. The current vacancy rate for motor trades is 5.1 – a 20-year high and the highest rate on record.

Ahead of his careers presentation at this week’s Automechanika, Steve Nash, CEO of the IMI, said: “Vacancy rates increased across all industries after the pandemic, but the motor industry hasn’t bounced back like most other sectors.

“In fact, while other parts of the UK economy saw vacancies fall as posts were filled, the motor industry vacancy rate has continued to rise, underlining the systemic problem we face in that perceptions of the sector as a good career destination are not positive. Only the hospitality sector has a higher vacancy rate which highlights the immense difficulties currently faced by businesses in the automotive sector.”

All automotive occupations saw record highs in January 2023, and although job postings dropped back in the following two months, many remain at significantly higher levels than previous years. As a result, all occupations have seen increases in advertised salaries, which are now higher than government-recorded median salaries across all automotive roles.

The largest increase has been in vehicle paint technician roles which has experienced record vacancy rates – 95 per cent higher than in 2021. Salaries increased by 9.6 per cent in the six months to end March 2023 and 19 per cent over three years.

With businesses struggling to fill vacancies, advertising for apprentices in automotive retail has continued to grow since 2020. Job postings have increased by 55 per cent in the past 6 months and are more than double 2021 numbers.

“It is encouraging to see employers focusing on apprenticeships – it’s absolutely right to get people interested in automotive from the start of their careers”, added Nash. “We also need to appeal to people who are thinking of changing career. And we need to address the misperceptions about the opportunities that exist as automotive technology evolves. In response the IMI will be launching a major Perceptions campaign at the British Motor Show later this year.”