Easy2Recruit says international recruitment should be an important part of the automotive industry’s response to the technician shortage affecting workshops throughout the UK. According to the company, many businesses have a healthy flow of work but do not have enough skilled technicians to meet that demand reliably.

The recruiter had placed more than 100 technicians from overseas into UK businesses by the time of the report. Those appointments covered independent garages, service networks and multi-site operators, demonstrating how the approach can serve workshops of different sizes and operating models.

The scale of the challenge remains significant. Research from the Institute of the Motor Industry identified around 16,000 unfilled technician positions across UK workshops. Easy2Recruit also pointed to three independent garages that had recently closed after staffing difficulties became unsustainable. Although the businesses were busy, they could not secure the people required to support their workload.

Those examples also showed how unfamiliarity can delay action. The three garages had spoken with Easy2Recruit roughly 18 months earlier but chose not to continue because overseas hiring appeared complicated. The recruiter says its managed service is designed to remove that concern by handling the process from candidate selection through the practical steps required before a technician starts work.

Persistent understaffing affects more than the workshop rota. When a team is regularly operating below the capacity the business needs, turnaround times can lengthen, customer experience can deteriorate and revenue can be lost. Over time, the combined pressure can make even a busy operation difficult to sustain.

Easy2Recruit recommends treating staffing as a forward-looking business plan instead of reacting only when a vacancy appears. It cited its ongoing work with In’n’Out Autocentres, where technicians are placed at intervals of approximately six to 12 months as the network expands and manages normal employee turnover. That planned approach can give an organisation more stability than emergency recruitment.

The company stresses that international recruitment is not intended to replace investment in UK training or apprenticeships. Domestic skills development remains essential. Its position is that local and international recruitment should work together, allowing workshops to maintain current capacity while the home-grown talent pipeline develops.

This changes the central workforce question. Instead of asking only how to fill an immediate opening, workshop leaders can consider what team they will need six or 12 months ahead. Easy2Recruit says the process typically takes about 16 weeks from selecting a candidate to their first day, so early planning helps businesses stay ahead of future pressure.

By combining apprenticeships, local hiring and international recruitment within one longer-term strategy, workshops can protect service levels, support growth and reduce the operational risk created by persistent technician vacancies.