Just a Job?

Our feature article this month ends on what for me is a truly sad note, with an observation made by one of the experienced and capable technicians who was treated shabbily during the demise of the M2 chain of shops in California. He concluded, “I used to like coming to work and feeling like we were a team.... I don’t think a lot of us are ever going to look at this as anything more than just a job again.”

In an industry such as ours, we face a shrinking market, a graying workforce, a constantly changing technology, and a severe shortage of young people looking for training and employment. We certainly cannot afford to shrug off his comments and his jaded attitude as meaningless “sour grapes.”

“Just a job” can indeed put food on the table and a roof overhead, but both corporate management and employees suffer, I am certain, whenever this phrase is used. “Just a job” demeans the work. The phrase makes the career and the employee meaningless.

Using the phrase “It’s just business” to excuse cost-shifting, fraud, ruthless treatment of employees, customers, and business partners is equally inexcusable. We certainly cannot, as an industry, in justice, condone any activity that promotes either of these attitudes.

While I am still on my soapbox, I am hoping that the few big names in our national industry associations who have been trading insults and diatribes via e-mail to each other and sharing these mailings with representatives of the Collision Repair Industry press will STOP.

National Automotive Service Professionals Week is set for June 11 - 18 this month. We have a lot to celebrate - and a lot about which to think. Hopefully, we will, as an industry, be proud of what we do, and proud to offer meaningful career opportunities to new industry participants.

Good things are happening this month for the future of the industry! The Automotive Management Institute (AMI) has received two generous donations from shop owners (See page 11.) to help continue AMI’s mission to provide practical business education for the automotive service industry. In Ontario, the government has announced a major investment in apprenticeship training programs (See page 13.).

Best wishes to our collision repair students on the SkillsUSA team, on their way to the international competition in Finland, led by Mark Claypool, President and CEO of Mentors At Work. Great careers await you!