Steer Automotive highlights AI-proof automotive careers
On A-level results day, Steer Automotive CEO Jana Siber has urged school-leavers to consider future-proofed careers in automotive that can’t be replaced by AI.
She has warned that a whole generation of young people has been steered towards desk work that is now being automated, while the trades facing the sharpest shortages in the country have never had more to offer the young people who choose them.
IMI figures found that the accident repair sector loses around 4,700 skilled workers a year and gains only 3,000, while only 12% of vehicle paint technicians in the UK are under 25. Meanwhile, advertised pay for paint technicians has risen 28% in two years yet the roles still cannot be filled.
Further, just 11,518 technicians hold a qualification in the driver assistance systems already fitted to 27% of cars on UK roads, with demand rising to 205,000 by 2030.
The data has also found that more than 70% of repair and salvage employers report skills shortages and 92% of UK automotive businesses report difficulty sourcing the skills they need.
Siber said: “I spent most of my career in boardrooms and consultancies, and I would say this to any parent reading their child’s results this morning: the picture we were all given about which careers are safe is out of date. The work being taken by AI is the work being done sitting at a screen. What cannot be automated is the judgement of a skilled technician repairing a damaged bumper, making it safe again.
“This industry has absorbed every technological shift of the past century. It electrified. It computerised. It is going digital now, and it will absorb AI too. The jobs of the future are not coming. They are here, and we want young people, and those considering a career change to join us.”
Steer has recently launched its own training academy, with approximately 300 apprentices on programme and ambitions to grow that number to over 400 across the group.
The academy runs six distinct apprenticeship pathways rather than a single general route: Multiskills, MET, Cosmetic and Vehicle Damage Assessment and Paint and Panel.
Benefits include:
- A three-day Work Trial Experience before enrolment
- Qualified on-site mentors at every site
- Accreditations in electric vehicle systems, ADAS, refrigerant handling and welding
- IMI-accredited continuing professional development.
