Major Career Opportunities in Store for Millennials in Auto Sector

Despite high industry growth, 68% of Millennials say auto jobs are not on radar

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 18, 2018; Today at the Montréal International Auto Show, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) announced its intention to launch a national recruiting campaign aimed at groups such as Millennials, women, new Canadians and military veterans.

In 2017, Canadian new vehicle sales reached record numbers for the fifth consecutive year, and achieved the first ever 2 million vehicle year.

As a result of the auto sector experiencing rapid and continuous growth, jobs in over 3,200 car and truck dealerships across Canada need to be filled in a variety of positions, including in marketing, finance, sales, parts, IT, service and management roles.  Currently, auto dealerships employ 150,000 people nationwide, and that number is expected to rise.

"The auto sector is experiencing immense growth, as evidenced by dealer revenues exceeding $120 billion last year alone," said John White, President and Chief Executive Officer of CADA.

"What's less well-known are the variety of well-paying career opportunities that exist at dealerships," said White. "The modern dealership now needs more employees with a skill-set related to innovation and business, from technicians who are trained in advanced technology to savvy marketers who can leverage social media strategically."

Contrastingly, findings of a national Abacus Data survey of 2,000 Millennials conducted from December 22, 2017 to January 8, 2018 indicate that this age group (18 to 37 years) have largely not considered jobs at auto dealerships.

Among those polled, 68% said they had never considered working in an auto dealership, while 25% said they had considered it, indicating a general lack of awareness of the volume, variety and quality of career opportunities that exist in the auto sector. Seven per cent said they have worked or currently work in a dealership.

Moreover, the survey found that men were more likely to say they would consider working at an automobile dealership than women (31% vs.19%).

To fill this critical need, CADA is developing a national recruitment campaign, to be launched in the coming month, which will match skilled job seekers from anywhere in Canada with auto jobs in their community, while also providing potential applicants with helpful auto career resources.

"The upcoming campaign will promote franchised new car and truck dealers as an attractive and rewarding place to pursue and grow a career. Beyond Millennials, our strategy also includes targeting such groups as women, new Canadians, and military veterans," concluded White.

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) is the national association for franchised automobile dealerships that sell new cars and trucks. Our 3,300 dealers represent a key sector of Canada's economy. Through our dealers, we are represented in nearly every community and those dealers collectively employ over 150,000 people across the country.