Industry Trends & Job Growth
In June 2016, Columbus won the U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart City Challenge by pledging to make investments and creative incentives for energy efficiency, transportation electrification, and greenhouse gas reduction that is environmentally and financially sustainable. Since being awarded the $40 million grant, private and public investors have pledged an additional $450 million to the initiative. With these investments, Central Ohio is set to become a national leader in alternative energy vehicle adoption.
Columbus Region: Automotive Market Overview
Industry Trends & Job Growth
The automotive service industry is starving for skilled technicians. Due to an aging workforce, rising costs of training and reduced interest in the career field, there is expected to be a shortage of over 25,000 technicians in the next five years at dealerships alone (New York Times, 2017). Independent automotive repair shops and private and public fleets are also in need of qualified technicians. According to an 2016 Automotive Service Association survey, a skilled labor shortage was the biggest concern among automotive service business owners. For automotive technicians with knowledge of advanced technologies and diagnostic techniques, the earning potential is substantial. Top-level master technicians can earn upwards of $100,000 per year (New York Times, 2017).
The alternative energy vehicle market is growing at a rapid rate. The number of alternative energy fueling stations in the United States has grew by 500 percent between 2011 and 2016 (Alternative Fuels Data Center, 2016). Major vehicle manufacturers are committed to alternative energy. Ford Motors plans to make 40 percent of its fleet electric by 2020 (Business Insider, 2017). Through investment in fuel cells and energy efficiency, Honda plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% (Honda, 2017).
Students with skills in Alternative Energy Vehicle Diagnosis and Repair will be in high demand for employment at:
- New and used car dealerships
- Independent auto repair shops
- Public and private fleet repair facilities
Industry-Driven Occupation and Skills Analysis
Columbus State ATE projects have created, piloted, and launched an effective new model for an “accelerated DACUM” known as a Job Skills Analysis with Compression Planning®. This model was piloted in the ATE project entitled Building an Academic Pathway for Industrial Engineering Operations Technicians (1400452), has since been replicated for the ATE project Pathways for Alternative Energy Automotive Technicians (1600689), among other programs.
A trained facilitator led a small group of industry representatives who generated, categorized, and rank-ordered the roles, responsibilities, and major tasks of alternative energy automotive technicians. The group further identified the general skills, soft skills, and specialized equipment used by these technicians. The Compression Planning with Storyboarding method proved to be a highly-effective and efficient process in extracting necessary job skills data and information from key industry partners within hours, rather than days. Faculty used this information to craft a job description of an alternative energy automotive technician which became the basis for curriculum development. Through the use of Compression Planning with Storyboarding, the session can take less than 25 percent of the time required for a full DACUM—which requires industry representatives to participate for two full days. Compression Planning with Storyboarding provides efficiency and flexibility for the team. The resulting process typically can be accomplished in half of a day.
The Job Skills Analysis with Compression Planning® was attended by the following industry experts and faculty:
Bill Burns- City of Columbus
Don Wright- Haydocy Automotive
Jeff Kates- Yellow Cab
Ray McNabb- Yellow Cab
Tim Kaufman- Midwestern Auto Group
Don Zaiser- Petty’s Auto Service
Matt Stephens-Rich- Clean Fuels Ohio
Bill Lytle- Lindsay Acura
Dusty Lindsay- Lindsay Honda
Kylie Barth- Lindsay Acura
Brad Sells- Ricart Ford
Bob Swisher- Ricart Ford
Kyle Kaiser- Kaiser CNG
Randy Kaiser- Kaiser CNG
Lana Rucks- The Rucks Group
Steve Levin- Columbus State Community College
Mark Mitchell- Columbus State Community College
Daniel Foor- Columbus State Community College
Sources:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/automobiles/wheels/automobile-repair-jobs.html?mcubz=3
- http://www.thedrive.com/tech/9887/automakers-desperate-to-counter-growing-mechanic-shortage
- http://chronicle.augusta.com/business/2017-04-15/auto-repair-industry-facing-skilled-worker-shortage
- http://asashop.org/hows-business-survey-results-online-now/
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1600689.