According to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc., while employment counts in the Canadian automotive service sector trended upwards on average in the third quarter of 2021, it still lagged significantly behind 2019.
According to the consultant, employment numbers continued to rebound, but not all parts of the automotive sector benefitted.
Motor vehicle manufacturing employment counts remained below 2020 figures and well below 2019, it says.
Many of the key sectors of the automotive industry managed single digit increases by the end of the third quarter that still left employment counts below pre-pandemic levels.
The 7.1% average increase in dealer employment still meant that the 2021 average figure by the end of the third quarter was 10.7% behind the same time in 2019; a deficit of over seventeen thousand employees.
Two big automotive employers – dealerships and repair/maintenance facilities, both showed growth in 2021 says Andrew King, Managing Partner of DAC.
“However if and when employment will return to historic levels remains an open question – as the industry adapts and evolves to meet new shopping patterns and consumer needs.”
In 2020 the pandemic hit the auto sector hard, followed in 2021 by the semiconductor shortage and supply chain disruptions. Employment counts tumbled across the automotive space in 2020 and what should have been a period of recovery throughout this year was de-railed due to these and related supply chain issues.
At the end of the third quarter, average employment counts for the auto industry grew 5.2% from the same time last year with an average of 633.6 thousand employees on record. However, this figure still remained 8.4% below 2019.
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