Hiring new technicians is a frequent practice for many collision repairers, according to the results of the BodyShop Business 2017 Industry Profile survey.

When asked how often they have to replace a technician, 62 percent of shop owners said less than every two years (up from 59 percent in the 2015 survey). Another 28 percent of shops said they need to replace a tech about every two years.

A small percentage of collision repairers – 8 percent – said they have to replace techs about once a year.

One factor that could be driving the turnover is the aging workforce in collision repair: The average age of production personnel is 42, up from 41 in the 2015 survey.

Nearly 60 percent of shops said their production workforce has stayed the same over the past 12 months, while 37 percent said they had increased their employment ranks.

When shop owners need to find technicians, 30 percent of them hire them from high school vocational programs, while 20 percent hire them from post-graduate vocational programs. Others turn to in-house apprenticeship programs, local work-training programs and national schools such as UTI.

For more results from the 2017 Industry Profile, read the May issue of BodyShop Business.