Skills gap struggle goes on as recruitment plans ‘retracted’

12 December 2024  

The take-up of jobs in the UK’s automotive sector saw a further slight increase over the past four months – but the struggle to tackle the skills gap goes on, according to latest analysis from the Institute of the Motor Industry.

The figures follow a separate IMI study of job postings that suggested employers had retracted recruitment plans over the last year, which the organisation said was a serious concern for motorists requiring vehicle repairs and servicing.

IMI’s Automotive Vacancies Report, released on December 11, showed the motor trades vacancy rate had fallen month-on-month.

However, motor trades are still ranked the joint second-highest vacancy rate of all industries with only hospitality at a higher rate, according to IMI’s analysis of October 2024 data from the Office of National Statistics.

Data showed motor trades vacancies at 19,000 — the lowest since October 2021. With 3.3 vacancies for every 100 employees this was down from 3.5 in September.

‘Recruitment fatigue’

The figures follow the publication last August of IMI’s Labour Market Report, which showed overall job postings fell by 38% year-on-year (July 2024), with 51% of those positions for vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians.

IMI said a complicated mix of factors were likely to have been behind the decline including employer apathy and recruitment fatigue after failed hiring attempts, combined with caution due to economic uncertainty.

On the latest vacancies report Azlina Bulmer, managing director of the IMI, said: “The proposed increase in employers’ NI contributions, announced in the autumn budget, has the potential to impact recruitment as well as salaries, and this raises serious concerns that the already significant skills gap is only likely to be further exacerbated.

“Lack of access to qualified and continuously-trained automotive experts presents a serious risk to road safety and social mobility, which we will raise in our response on behalf of our members to the government’s industrial strategy green paper.”