The latest update from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) indicates that automotive employment in Canada for the third quarter of the year remains far below pre-COVID (2019) levels.
“In 2020 the pandemic hit the auto sector hard, followed in 2021 by the semiconductor shortage and supply chain disruptions,” said DAC. “Employment counts tumbled across the automotive space in 2020 and what should have been a period of recovery throughout this year was de-railed before it had barely begun.”
DAC said that average employment counts at the end of the third quarter increased 5.2% from the same period in 2020—with an average of 633,600 thousand employees recorded. “However, this figure still remained 8.4% below 2019,” said DAC.
Looking at the change in percentage for Canadian automotive employment for the third quarter, year-to-date for 2021, DAC found automobile dealers increased 7.1%, automotive repair and maintenance was up 6.6%, and motor vehicle parts and accessories manufacturing increased 6.1%. Automotive parts and accessories stores increased by 2.4%, while motor vehicle manufacturing declined 0.9%.
“While employment counts trended upwards on average, not all parts of the automotive sector benefitted,” said DAC. “Motor vehicle manufacturing employment counts remained below 2020 figures and well below 2019.”
Several key sectors of the automotive industry did manage single digit increases by the end of the third quarter, but employment counts remained below pre-pandemic levels. And the 7.1% average increase in dealer employment, while good news, is still 10.7% behind the same period in 2019. DAC described this as a deficit of “over 17,000 employees.”
“The two big automotive employers—dealerships and repair/maintenance facilities both showed growth in 2021,” said 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.”
