Farm machinery dealers desperate for more technicians

Hundreds of servicing and machinery jobs in remote areas remain unfilled as farmers brace for repair delays.

Farmers could face delays in service and repairs of farm machinery as hundreds of jobs in farm dealerships go unfilled, a leading farm machinery company warns.

The results of a national dealer survey by CNH Industrial, which owns the Case IH and New Holland machinery brands, show demand for both apprentices and qualified trades people dramatically outstripping supply.

There are also major shortages of spare parts technicians, sales and administration staff.

While Covid had aggravated the labour shortage it was already a problem following a boom in machinery sales in the last two years and competition from other industries such as transport and mining, dealers say.

The Tractor and Machinery Association recently estimated just 60 per cent of all vacancies in the farm machinery sector were being filled.

The problem was likely to get worse with 83 per cent of dealers looking to increase their employment levels further, according to the TMA.

Spare parts specialists from Brown and Hurley. Spare parts specialists are one of many skills in demand at farm machinery dealers across Australia. Picture: Supplied

The CNH Industrial dealer survey found that of the 800 positions dealers advertised to the 12 months ending June 21 last year, 50 per cent remained vacant.

Jobs for qualified tradespeople was worst, with only 41 per cent of vacancies filled and even attracting apprentices was difficult with only 69 per cent of places filled.

Spare parts interpreters and sales people were also in short supply, with only 58 per cent of advertised sales positions filled and 44 per cent of parts positions.

“The results haven’t come as a surprise to us – we are well aware of the difficulties our dealerships have, particularly in smaller and more remote locations, in recruiting and retaining skilled staff,” CNH Industrial managing director of agriculture Brandon Stannett said.

“If that need (for service technicians) becomes too great, it can obviously impact a workshop’s capacity to service customers, putting a lot of pressure on dealerships at particularly busy times of year, such as during harvest,” Mr Stannett said.

“In smaller towns, our dealerships are often one of the biggest employers, so it’s not only farmers who are potentially losing out from labour shortages, but rural and regional communities and their economies as well.”

O’Connors human resources manager Lisa Day said the shortage of service technicians was the worst the Wimmera-based Case IH dealership had seen for a long time.

O’Connors operates 12 branches in three states and employs 248 staff.

“We could put on at least two qualified service technicians in every branch at the moment plus apprentices, plus 10 to 15 other positions such as sales people and spare parts interpreters.

“So that’s at least 34 jobs unfilled across our dealer network,” Ms Day said.

O’Connors was working hard to attract experienced technicians and others to move to smaller country towns but it was difficult, Ms Day said.

One problem, for example, was that a potential candidate may have a spouse or partner who needed a job also and that was not always possible to do.

O’Connors had also been looking to employ overseas technicians to fill gaps such as at harvest but of course the pandemic had set those efforts back significantly.

O’Connors also encourages school leavers to sign up, offering work experience and an apprenticeship and trainee program called RedStart which it promotes it strongly in local schools.

“I think we need to promote ourselves and our industry much more to show the opportunities we can offer,” she said. “One of the challenges we have is to convince students that being a diesel mechanic for example can be a very rewarding and interesting career.

“These days with the sophisticated machinery on farms, it’s much more than just swinging a spanner and involves using computer skills and diagnostic tools to solve complex problems,” she said.

Even retaining existing staff was challenging, particularly during the pandemic where workers were often looking for a break, a new challenge or even changing careers.

“We’re working hard on being the employer of choice in our region and that we can offer interesting and varied career path,” Ms Day said.

Mr Stannett said the survey highlighted the need for greater investment in a larger pool of qualified technicians and spare parts experts.

CNH Industrial had been running a dedicated Case IH and New Holland apprenticeship program through Riverina TAFE for almost five years, and they were keen to see assistance from government for additional programs and incentives for growth in regional employment and apprenticeships.

“This is all part of a multi-tiered plan we are developing alongside dealers, and with the support of the wider industry, government, training bodies and other stakeholders,” Mr Stannett said.