By Mike Davey
Ottawa, Ontario — February 15, 2017 — Every repairer has seen firsthand the advancing technology in today’s vehicles. In turn, this level of advancement requires that technicians and other production staff must learn new skills to ensure safe and high-quality repairs. It’s essential for shop owners to have access to useful and timely labour market information to support this.
AIA Canada has announced it is embarking on a project to develop a program to track labour in the automotive aftermarket. Nermin Ibrahim is coordinating the project for AIA Canada. She discussed the project in a recent interview with Collision Repair magazine.
“It will be an online tool that will track labour, primarily for the mechanical and collision sectors,” she says.
The project, formally known as Aftermarket Labour Market Intelligence (ALMI), will consist of two core phases. The final product is expected to launch in late 2018.
The association is calling on repairers to participate in the project and help identify human resource challenges in the automotive aftermarket. In Phase 1 of the project, repairers will help AIA Canada to identify specific challenges through a survey, followed by participation in focus groups to discuss the initial findings. AIA Canada will also conduct interviews with repairers to discuss the human resource challenges found in your workplace.
Phase 2 will consist of user-testing the online tool developed from the results of Phase 1. This is an essential step to make sure ALMI is ready to launch.
For more information or to get involved in the project, please contact Nermin Ibrahim, ALMI Project Coordinator, at 613-728-5821 ext.239 or via email to nermin.ibrahim@aiacanada.com.
