James Black at the International Bodyshop Industry Symposium

As a member of the Collision Industry for 15 years I have witnessed a vast change in the way repair businesses have adapted to remain operational.

We are living in the highest skills shortage of recent years. This has affected several industries including Collision and Automotive Repair with technicians and trade workers making up the highest percentage (at 33%) of persistent shortages since 2021.

In late July, the International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS) was held in Sydney. Across 3 days industry influencers, decision makers, and business owners, gathered to discuss the current state of the industry, upcoming technological advancements, and new innovative ways to retain the current workforce whilst incentivising a new generation of Panel and Paint technicians essential to keeping the industry alive in Australia.

As a Board Member of the Australian Collision Industry Alliance (ACIA) and Business Manager of the Sheen Group I was asked to sit on the panel for “People, our no. 1 Asset: Apprentices and Attraction.”

We discussed many issues that the industry is facing in the modern environment. These included attracting a new younger work force, creating value for current workforce and the importance of training.

Great and forward thinking discussions on changing the perception of the industry from a supplementary automotive job to a genuine and worthwhile trade, ways to create business opportunities for the current workforce and the reutterance that training should consistently be developed and offered throughout the career of a technician were the highlight of the panel with the comment “People don’t leave people, they leave the business that isn’t meeting  their needs,” being the take away for many attendees.

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At Sheen we know that the future of our business is at the hands of our young people.

We want to make sure that their experience with the industry is positive and we establish this by offering financial, social and career incentives.

With the ACIA we are collaborating with industry partners and businesses to reposition the collision industry to appeal to a wider group of potential candidates and help businesses Australia wide gain and retain worthwhile staff.

Overall, the conference was a great opportunity for industry stakeholders to take new ideas and practices away and begin implementing positive change that will assist in driving employment and retention.

Thank you to IBIS, Bodyshop Australia, Sheen and the ACIA for providing the platform and the opportunity! See you in 2025!”