Page 24 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine Jul-Aug 2021

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News • In Focus
P
PAINT&PANEL JULY / AUGUST 2021
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
AUTOMOTIVE
is forecast to in- crease to an esti- mated 38,700 skilled positions by 2022/23
There may be less demand for automotive ap- prentices over the next two years from the tradition- al employer base. Central to this is a growing disen- chantment around the level of techni- cal knowledge and capability of ap- prentices. The au-
tomotive industry is in the bottom third of all industries in terms of average weekly earnings. Low wage levels can- not be dismissed as a reason for skill shortages within the industry.
Industry research shows that 52 per cent of automotive businesses nation- ally are currently experiencing a short- age of skilled labour, up from 45.7 per cent in 2016/17. Skill shortages in re- gional areas are more severe than in metropolitan areas. Queensland and Western Australia have the highest skill shortages, and the Northern Ter- ritory the lowest.
PROFIT
Profit margins within automotive are amongst the lowest of all industries. Qualitativeevidenceprovidedbybusi- ness stakeholders also confirms that low profit margins are endemic across the automotive industry. Despite the increased technological complexity of vehicles, many business owners feel they are constrained in their ability to charge more due to the sensitivity of consumers towards price rises, as well as the intense level of competition for customers. This results in business owners being undercompensated for the skills and services they provide, to the overall detriment of the business and the industry. Some small business owners have also reported to have nev- er drawn a proper wage and are only in business as they are passionate about the trade and not necessarily for greater financial reward.
INDUSTRY
DIRECTIONS
THE MOTOR TRADES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA (MTAA), HAS RELEASED THE SECOND EDITION OF DIRECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA’S AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY – AN INDUSTRY REPORT.
REPARED BY VACC'S SENIOR
Research Analyst, Steve Bletsos, the 2020/21 report provides updated information and builds on the themes developed in the first edition – published in 2017. It provides a comprehensive and holistic picture of the current state of Australia’s automotive industry, including key trends and their likely effects on the in-
dustry over the next few years.
It is anticipated that this document
will help generate a greater under- standing and awareness of the in- dustry at both national and state/ter- ritory levels, which will help guide future industry policy and decision- making over the short to medium term.
Here are some key points from the re- port which you can download from the MTAA website:
• Small and family owned businesses
dominate the automotive industry, com-
prising 96.6 per cent of all businesses
• The most significant issues for automo- tive businesses over the next three years are economic conditions, main- taining business profitability and the availability of skilled labour. The least important issues are technological
change and electric vehicles.
• There were 19.8 million registered ve- hicles on the road as at 30 January 2020, an increase of 30,000 vehicles
over the previous year
• The vehicle fleet is getting older with
the average age now standing at 10.4
years up from 10.2 years in 2019
• 66.2 per cent of automotive businesses nationally utilised the Federal Job- Keeper Payment, which is the second highest uptake in the economy behind Accommodation and Food Services
Industry (67%).
• By 2030, battery electric vehicles are
expected to comprise up to 26 per cent of new vehicle sales in Australia.
According to the report
the current shortage of panel and paint techniciansrespectively is 1,602 and 1,593.”
SKILLS SHORTAGES
According to the report the current shortage of panel and paint techni- cians respectively is 1,602 and 1,593, next year this should increase to 1,690 and 1,600 will the following year’s def- icit is predicted to be 1,710 for panel and 1,650 for paint
VACC modelling of industry skill shortage data for 2020/21 shows that there is an estimated deficit of 31,143 skilled positions within the automotive industry nationally. This represents the highest level of skill shortages ever re- corded for the industry and this deficit