DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A critical shortage of automotive technicians is hitting central Florida, and a local school is helping to fill the demand.
At Daytona State College’s automotive collision repair and refinishing program, students like Simion Mereniuc are learning hands-on skills.
Lead instructor Ron Lenz says students like Mereniuc are needed now.
“Almost every single shop, it doesn’t matter what city we’re talking about, throughout central Florida or all of Florida, every body shop is in need of technicians,” Lenz said.
The shortage is due to several factors, like workers retiring, fewer schools teaching the trade, and declining interest.
Lenz said it’s a unique problem impacting central Florida, where the rate of rental cars is high.
“Mainly based on tourism for sure,” Lenz said. “And because there’s a shortage in technicians, it’s more challenging to get cars back to the rental companies and back on the roads in a timely manner.”
According to the TechForce Foundation, a nonprofit focused on workforce development in transportation trades, the United State will need 349,000 new auto technicians between 2024 and 2028 just to replace those leaving the profession. Yet only an estimated 87,000 will enter the field during that time.
With such demand, Mereniuc says auto repair offers job security, even in the age of artificial intelligence.
“A paint job coming from the head, it’s not going to be the same as a computer doing it,” he said. “The computer uses an algorithm that it gets from the whole wide web. Whereas a mind, it’s just natural. It’s coming to you as you are.”
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