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lers are having to deal with a shortage of suitable staff in key roles
Online recruitment specialists Jobco-op Automotive said it is seeing a lack of high quality candidates for sales managers, LCV technicians and MoT testers vacancies.
Shaun Price, director, said: “We work with several dealer groups who have plans to expand their aftersales operations, for example, but just can’t get the technicians they need or, if they can find them, are having to upgrade the salary packages on offer.
“There are similar problems occurring among sales staff, aftersales managers and a number of other specialist roles.
“It means that where dealers want to expand their businesses, they are often having to slow down the implementation of their plans or to sometimes even abandon them altogether.”
Price said the problem stemmed from the recession, when dealers cut back on training and recruitment.
“The number of people entering the industry and gaining high quality skills plummeted during the recession and so there is now a shortage of candidates needed as the economy picks up.
“There is no short term answer but the trend does underline the importance of always continuing to recruit and train staff. Now that the economy is growing once more, there is no reason why dealers should not be ensuring a flow of talent for the future.”