A mechanic offered a reason why no one wants to work in the industry

Worker “shortage” vs wages

• Many commenters translate “shortage of mechanics” as “we can’t get mechanics cheap enough.”
• They argue this matches a pattern across professions: when employers say “shortage,” it often means they won’t pay the rate needed to attract workers.
• Several connect the mechanic issue to broader trends: low pay, hard physical labor, and rising complexity make the career unattractive compared to white‑collar work.

Economics, training, and structural bottlenecks

• One camp insists pay is “just economics”: if mechanics were worth more, the market would pay more; some jobs simply don’t exist above a certain wage.
• Others counter that this ignores monopsony, rent‑seeking, and deliberate underinvestment in training pipelines.
• Trades, policing, and medicine are cited as fields where bottlenecks (apprenticeship slots, licensing, residency caps, long hiring processes) limit supply even when pay is decent.
• Several argue gatekeeping guilds and regulatory barriers keep supply low to protect incumbents.

Flat-rate systems and warranty work

• Extensive discussion of “book time” / flat-rate: manufacturers time procedures on new cars, then pay dealers fixed hours per job.
• Warranty work is often reimbursed at a fraction of normal book rate; dealers pass that cut onto mechanics, who are paid only the pre-estimated hours even if the job overruns.
• This makes warranty-heavy dealership work unattractive; many mechanics move to independent shops.

Design, regulation, and maintainability

• Commenters cite “design for manufacturability” and sub-assembly thinking as key reasons cars are so hard to repair (e.g., removing a cab or front end for routine tasks, wet timing belts buried in engines).
• Some blame fuel-economy and safety regulations for packaging constraints; others say that’s mostly an excuse and point to brands that prioritize serviceability.
• Analogy is drawn to TVs/vacuums: once new devices get cheaper than repair labor, repair industries collapse.

EVs, electronics, and the future of repair

• Some see fewer moving parts in EVs as a future reduction in mechanical work; others highlight new high-voltage hazards, expensive diagnostics, and tightly integrated proprietary electronics.
• There’s skepticism that current EVs will be economical to keep running for decades, given battery costs, electronics fragility, and closed repair ecosystems.

Dealers, manufacturers, and broader distrust

• Dealerships are widely portrayed as parasitic middlemen protected by law, passing warranty and pricing risk down to mechanics and customers.
• Several note that automakers have clear incentives to favor short assembly time and faster scrappage over long-term maintainability.