Virtual tour reveals reality of aftermarket careers

AutoRaise has produced a virtual bodyshop tour which it hopes will attract new talent to the sector.

The tour was put together by apprentices within AutoRaise’s affiliated repairer network.

Jen Evans, AutoRaise business executive, said: “We are still feeling the impact of the pandemic and clearly there are going to be lower levels of confidence about future employment opportunities right now, however, now is the time as is demonstrated in the number of available vacancies out there.

“I am already having extremely encouraging discussions with numerous repairer businesses about the future and it is 100% clear that apprenticeships are the future for those businesses. The government’s incentive schemes will be key to this and we need to start preparing for post pandemic now.”

The government offers apprenticeship incentive schemes whereby employers and training providers will be rewarded for taking on and retaining apprentices. Up until the end of September 2021, employers can gain up to £4,000 per apprentice. Meanwhile, AutoRaise is working with four organisations on transferring their apprenticeship levy to repairers.

Steve Thompson, vice-chair said: “This project has been a mammoth one, but one that we are extremely proud of and we would like to extend our utmost gratitude to our apprentices and repairers for taking time out to put their videos together. My only request is that people share the tour with their broader networks as it is so important to attract the young talent into our industry.”