Cox Automotive’s latest study finds that most auto dealers say they are struggling to find employees who are just the right fit.
The 2021 Cox Automotive Dealership Staffing Study revealed 72% of franchised dealerships experience this problem.
“While the outlook for dealerships has never been better, dealers state that finding employees is a challenge due to people not returning to their positions or the workforce post-pandemic,” Angela Drake, senior industry intelligence manager at Cox Automotive, told the Cox Automotive website. “The traditional lack of interest in working at dealerships is exacerbated this year by pandemic-related stimulus money and enhanced unemployment benefits. The good news is that our study found overall interest in working at dealerships is growing, and a growing number of employees in non-automotive jobs view their skill sets as transferable to the dealership.”
The study also showed that approximately 65% of dealerships stated they intend to grow their workforce.
The topmost role the dealerships are looking to augment is that of service technicians; 60% of dealerships plan to increase the number of service technicians they have, Cox Automotive reported.
The State of Dealership Staffing study was done online between Feb. 23 and March 10 this year, with 440 dealership employees participating, 162 of whom are leaders, 127 of whom are managers and the rest are individual contributors.
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