How to find skilled automotive workers in New Zealand
You can listen to this automated AI version of the article here:
Skilled automotive workers can be difficult to find, especially when you need someone with the experience to get up to speed quickly.
And automotive employers aren’t the only ones looking for these skills.
People with strong mechanical and technical backgrounds are valuable across transport, heavy machinery, agriculture, construction and other industries. That creates competition for experienced workers well beyond workshops, dealerships and automotive businesses.
So if you’re struggling to find the right person locally, what are your options?
Get clear on the skills you need
Start with the work the person will be doing. Two automotive mechanics can have very different experience. One might have spent years working on passenger vehicles, while another has a background in diesel engines, heavy vehicles or diagnostic work.
The same applies to other automotive roles. Before you start recruiting, identify the practical skills and experience that matter for the vacancy. Consider the vehicles they’ll work on, the equipment and systems they need to know and how independently you expect them to operate.
This gives you a much clearer candidate profile and helps you focus your search on people who can genuinely do the work.
Recruit locally, but know when to widen the search
The New Zealand market is a good place to start, particularly if the skills you need are readily available. But repeatedly advertising a vacancy won’t necessarily produce a different candidate pool.
If you’ve been searching locally and aren’t finding people with the right experience, widening your recruitment search can give you access to candidates who wouldn’t otherwise see or apply for your role.
That can include overseas recruitment, giving you access to experienced workers you may not be able to find in the local market.
RecruitNZ works across local and international markets to help New Zealand employers find experienced automotive workers. This includes recruiting from the Philippines, where we can source candidates with relevant trade and automotive experience.
Search for the right experience
Widening your search gives you access to more candidates, but the goal is still to find someone whose experience matches the work they’ll be doing in your business.
That means looking beyond the job title. A mechanic may need experience with particular vehicle types, systems or diagnostic work. A panel beater may need a specific repair background, while a tyre technician may need experience across different vehicles, equipment and services.
The same applies when recruiting overseas. A candidate may have spent years working in the automotive industry, but you still need to understand what they have actually done, the environment they have worked in and how that experience translates to your vacancy.
This is where thorough screening matters. RecruitNZ helps employers define the experience they need, then sources and screens candidates against those requirements across New Zealand and international markets.
We recruit a range of automotive roles, including mechanics, panel beaters, diesel mechanics and tyre technicians. You can also explore our wider automotive recruitment services.
Start recruiting before the vacancy becomes critical
The best time to look at your recruitment options is before you urgently need someone.
An unfilled role can put pressure on the people already in the business. There may be less workshop capacity, longer turnaround times and fewer opportunities to take on additional work.
When recruitment only starts once that pressure has built, speed can begin driving the hiring decision. Looking ahead gives you more options.
If workloads are increasing, you’re planning to grow or you know a key employee will be leaving, start thinking about the skills you’ll need and where you’re likely to find them.
This is especially important if you may need to recruit internationally. Finding candidates, completing the recruitment process and working through immigration requirements all take time.
Planning earlier means you can search more widely without having to rush the decision.
Consider local and overseas recruitment as part of the same strategy
You don’t necessarily need to choose between recruiting in New Zealand and recruiting overseas from the outset.
The goal is to find the right person for the role.
Sometimes that person will be available locally. Sometimes the experience you need will be easier to find in an international market. For harder to fill roles, searching across both can give you a better chance of finding the right fit.
If automotive skills are important to your business, it’s worth thinking beyond your next vacancy too.
Look at the skills you already have in your team, the people who would be difficult to replace and the capability you’ll need as the business changes.
That gives you time to build a recruitment plan around the people you’ll need next, rather than starting from scratch every time a vacancy appears.
