Rebuilding the Technician Pipeline

Nov 24

Why David Macholz Says Automotive Training and Technical Communication Must Change

The automotive world is in the middle of a transformation. Electric vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems, complex software stacks and expanding diagnostics have reshaped what technicians need to know and what employers expect them to do. Despite this, the industry continues to rely on training models and certification structures that were built for a different era.

In a recent interview, David Macholz, leader with the Advanced Vehicle Technology Group and AVTECC (International Advanced Vehicle Technology Education and Credentialing Coalition), explained why the technician career pipeline is breaking and what needs to happen next. His message is clear. The way we train, communicate and certify technicians no longer matches the work they are asked to perform.

Macholz has spent years working with OEMs, colleges, independent shops and educators. He has seen the same pattern repeat itself across the industry. Students graduate with certificates but without validated skills. Employers expect competence that has never been measured. High attrition follows. Technicians leave the field. And the cycle repeats.

This is not a technician shortage, he says. It is a technician career crisis.

Content Heavy and Skills Shallow

For technical communicators, Macholz’s insights hit close to home. The core of the problem is that most education is still built around content volume rather than skill development. High schools and colleges graduate students who have passed their classes and finished their programs, yet many cannot perform the tasks that real work requires.

Macholz analyzes the disconnect this way.

Schools believe they are preparing entry level technicians.

Students believe they are ready because they earned a certificate.

Employers believe graduates should already be productive.

None of these expectations meet reality.

Without a system to validate actual hands on performance, the industry sets everyone up for disappointment. Technicians feel misled. Employers feel let down. And both sides feel pressure to move faster than training can support.

Certification without Skills

One of the most revealing parts of the discussion comes when Macholz explains how technician certification became so disconnected from real performance. He traces current practices back fifty years, to a point when the industry avoided licensing by proposing a multiple choice test with a two year work requirement. That model became the default standard.

The problem is that a test does not demonstrate ability. A test only demonstrates that the learner answered questions correctly. Macholz argues that any meaningful credential should require proof of performance, not just proof of memory. In a world of EV safety, high voltage procedures, software diagnostics and complex calibration, the risk of getting it wrong is too high to depend on guessing the right answer on an exam.

AVTECC’s mission is to build a new performance based structure that defines what technicians should actually be able to do, across brands and across career stages.

Pay, Tools and the Broken Entry Level Path

While training is the foundation of the problem, Macholz also addresses the system technicians enter into once they arrive in the field. Flat rate pay models hurt new technicians far more than experienced ones. Tool costs are carried by the worker rather than the employer. Starting wages lag far behind other trades. And many of the places where early career technicians work do not invest in their development.

The result is predictable. New technicians leave the industry and move into jobs that offer stability, better compensation and clearer advancement. That churn makes it even harder to find experienced technicians, which puts more pressure on OEMs and independent shops that are already stretched thin.

Macholz believes that until the industry is willing to acknowledge these root causes, no amount of marketing or scholarship money will fix the pipeline.

Technical Communication Has a Role

One of the most important moments in the interview comes when Macholz talks about where technicians go when they need help. Most do not reference manuals. Most do not have access to official OEM video libraries. They go to YouTube.

Not because they want shortcuts, but because it is the only place where the information is easy to find. He calls this an industry failure. Technical content exists, but it is locked behind poor search tools, proprietary platforms and inconsistent documentation practices.

This is where technical communicators and instructional designers need to step forward. The industry must make information findable and usable, whether through improved search, AI supported service information, short form video, or task focused micro learning.

Technicians learn in motion. They learn while solving real problems. They need content that matches that reality.

A Path Forward

Macholz does not present a simple answer because the problem is not simple. Instead, he outlines a set of changes that can move the industry forward.

• Recognize that the current system is not working.

• Give technicians clear, skill based pathways from entry to mastery.

• Build certification that measures performance, not recall.

• Provide access to technical information in formats people actually use.

• Create compensation models that respect the cost of entering the trade.

• Encourage mobile service, remote support and modern learning tools such as AR overlays and AI search.

• Build a talent pipeline that protects the future of training, subject matter expertise and product support.

Every one of these actions touches technical communication. From workflows to content strategy to job task analysis, the field is now intertwined with hands on training and technician development.

The Bottom Line

Macholz’s interview is not just about technicians. It is about the entire ecosystem of people responsible for helping them succeed. Automotive technology is advancing faster than the systems designed to support it. Unless the industry restructures how it trains and communicates, both technicians and employers will continue to struggle.

For technical communicators, this is a moment of opportunity. Clearer content, better tools, performance oriented training and user focused design can directly improve safety, retention and career growth for the people who keep modern vehicles on the road.

Macholz makes the case that technical communication is no longer optional in the world of advanced vehicle technology. It is essential.