A “No or Low Hire, No or Low Fire” Economy – An Industry Solution?

In the United States we have a challenging economic situation. GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in quarter 1 of 2026, slowing to 1.5% in quarter 2. Inflation (CPI) in July was down a little to 3.4%, still way above the fed’s target of 2.0%, leaving people to worry about upcoming federal funds rate decisions. The July the unemployment rate at 4.1%, down 0.2% from May. However, total nonfarm payroll jobs in July slightly contracted by 23,000 jobs in a cooling labor market, following heavy downward revisions to May and June. By most measures, finding a job right now is tough. Numerous articles in the media lately have characterized our current United States labor situation as a “No or Low Hire, No or Low Fire” job market.

When I first started in the equipment industry over 20 years ago, it was already apparent that the U.S. had a severe technician shortage. I’m not pleased to report that today we still have a severe shortage. Let’s look at some numbers published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Occupational Outlook Handbook. For Heavy Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Service Technicians, it shows median pay of $63M or over $30 per hour. Employment shows projected employment growth of 6% or 15,700 jobs from 2024 to 2034. That translates to 21,700 openings for these technicians annually over the decade. My current research and years of workforce development experience at The AED Foundation tell me that those numbers are way on the low side. What this data also tells me is that the equipment industry has a job solution to the “No or Low Hire, No or Low Fire” job market dilemma for young people and those interesting in making a career switch. It also says to me that more than a few in the industry remain a bit too complacent in pursuing those people and selling this job opportunity. Yes, for those that know me, I am talking about industry technician recruitment efforts again.

Recruitment starts at the dealer. I’m not talking about someone who does HR part time and puts a job ad in Indeed! What is needed is a continuous, multi-faceted recruitment program based on future projected needs over a selected timeframe. It’s fine to advertise your job opening in various media, but I recommend including the following in your recruitment efforts to grow your own technicians.

Work with your local technical college equipment technician programs. Hiring their graduating technicians is only a start. Get to know the program heads and instructors and find out what their program needs are. Get to know the students as you explore program needs that you can assist with.
Are you not happy with the curricula of the technician program(s) you see? Have your dealership represented on the program’s Advisory Board by someone with decision authority. This is an opportunity to help chart the program’s future directions and plan for what resources will be needed, and how they can be obtained. This also gives you a voice as to how the program can structured to help meet your dealership’s current and future needs.
Help to recruit Advisory Board members from manufacturers, suppliers, other dealers, and other industry participants. The broader the representation, the more effective the Board’s advocacy can be. Yes, other dealers too. This is a place where the collective mass and available resources of many supporting companies will benefit all. Your share of these benefits will be directly proportional to the effort you put in.
It’s no secret that heavy equipment programs that are expensive for colleges to offer tend to need more resources than many colleges can provide to truly offer excellent programs. That’s where the equipment industry members come in. Programs need operating equipment, simulators, electrical and hydraulic training boards, diesel engines, static parts for disassembly and reassembly, and other teaching aids. The Advisory Board members collectively working together can provide resources to meet these needs. They can also approach manufacturers and suppliers to donate items and funds to obtain the program materials required.
Help the technical schools recruit new students. This is important! Though much progress has been made, the technician image still suffers from years of bad stereotypes and misinformation. Go out and visit the middle schools and high schools. Offer job shadowing days. Talk to the teachers and students. Be there when the schools sponsor career day events. Hold events for students and their parents at your dealership to let them get to know about the industry and its opportunities. Give them a chance to “see and touch” the iron. Show them the computers and sophisticated technology. Let them know that equipment technicians are truly highly educated professionals. Develop excellent marketing materials and work with the schools to generate awareness of these careers, create actual interest, inspire positive industry career decisions, and motivate students to action. Inspire students and parents to start thinking about the heavy equipment industry as a genuine career possibility offering the opportunity to attend a good technical college, obtain a professional job with good pay and benefits, have stable employment, and have the ability to pursue various career paths. Don’t forget working with parents. Remember that “Dad” cares, and “Mom” is always a key career decision influencer for her sons and daughters.
Students have some real “barriers to entry” for a technician career. For those that need help, help them. Offer summer jobs and/or paid internships to enhance their basic skills and knowledge and help with tuition and fees. Ensure they know about the student tool discount programs available to them from major tool suppliers like Snap-On, Matco and Mac Tools. Some dealers help them buy the typical $3-4,000 or so initial tool set prescribed by the college that they will need. Many dealers work to grow their own technicians with loans or scholarships for tuition, books and fees. Some allow those students to “work off those loans or scholarships” in return for committing to work for that dealer for a period of time after graduation.

Another dealer employer benefit is that when you are involved as described above, you have the opportunity to see the students’ work and progress. You may see students that you decide to sponsor with an eye to hiring them at graduation. That can certainly give a dealer an edge in the recruitment process after graduation. There is no magic here; as with many successful programs, it’s hard work. The efforts must continue both in good and challenging industry environments, but it’s worth it to create a continuous pipeline of highly qualified technicians.

Steven A. Johnson is the Director of Sales & Marketing at Learning Without Scars.

Learning Without Scars is an industrial education company that provides specialized, job function based online training classes, job function skills assessments, and lectures. Products are designed for manufacturers and their dealers, as well as independent businesses in the construction equipment, heavy truck, agricultural equipment, engine and automotive industries. Training is aimed at improving dealer parts, service, sales, marketing and customer service operations through qualified people that are knowledgeable in using operational metrics and current market and operational best practice methods.

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