Why People Aren't Lining Up for This $120,000 Job

Key Takeaways

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  Only elite technicians reach six-figure earnings

  “Someone earning that amount of money is easily top 5 percent. If you look at the median wages for this profession that are tracked by the government, dealership mechanics at the median earn more like 60,000 a year. So Ford CEO Jim Farley is referencing the absolute elite performers in this system, the technicians with high level of skill and a good situation where they can take advantage of those skills.”

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  Flat rate systems create extreme wage volatility

  “I worked 40 hours and my first paycheck was 20 hours. And it's like this, this is a problem. You might be earning, let's say $26 an hour, but when you sit down and you look at the mix of work that you've got and calculate how many hours you were in the building versus how much you'd been paid and you come out with a figure that looks more like $16.36, you start to question your decisions.”

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  Mechanics must personally fund expensive tool sets

  “To become a mechanic, Russell first had to go to automotive school, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Then he had to build up his set of tools, literally. Mechanics need to buy their own tools even if they work at a dealership. And that's not cheap. The toolboxes alone can cost ten grand.”

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  Automakers audit repair times to reduce pay

  “There are even people whose whole profession is to audit the work that the dealerships do to find efficiencies and make sure that the number of hours that such and such job pays is not out of line with how many hours it actually takes to do that job. One technician told me that technicians are even reluctant to share in online forums tips and tricks because they think that the factories might be in those forums as well and might catch on when they've got a job that pays three or four hours that they can do in 30 minutes.”

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  Physical labor and tech shifts deter recruits

  “Even with a lot of experience and doing the same job a bajillion times and getting good at it, the cars change, the jobs change. They need to adjust to new products and the changes that factories make. So even a mechanic with 10 years of experience has to sort of start from zero. And just as you get good at it, the physical toll starts to really affect your ability to be productive.”

Episode Description

The automotive industry is facing a shortage of mechanics. Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley has said his company’s dealerships have 5,000 open jobs – positions he says can pay up to $120,000 a year. WSJ’s Christopher Otts explains why more people aren’t taking him up on it. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: - The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager’s Six-Figure Salary - The Repo Man Is Busier Than Ever Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices