Automotive News Canada - January 2024 - 18

18
* JANUARY 2024
Retail pay: $169,800 average
37% make
>$175,000
Survey finds rising
compensation, yet
two-thirds of respondents
have considered leaving
or have found another job,
pointing to other issues
By TODD HUMBER
T ORONTO CORRESPONDENT
WORKING AT AN AUTOMOBILE
dealership is lucrative, with the average
salary across the country last year coming
in at $169,800, according to Automotive
News Canada's 2023 Salary Survey.
" Without question, the high salary
stands out like a beacon, " said Elizabeth
Hall, Toronto-based managing director of
Research+Knowledge=Insights. The firm
conducted the survey, which attracted 173
respondents from across the country.
The pretax amount of $169,800 includes
all forms of pay, such as salary, commissions
and bonuses, and all job titles at
major automotive brands.
While that salary is down slightly
from $172,500 in 2022, according to survey
results, it's up 6.8
per cent from $158,900 in
2021. And it towers over
the average income for
Canadians, which sat at
$54,000 in 2021, the most
recent data available
from Statistics Canada.
" It's one of the few
high-paying professions
that don't require
advanced degrees, or
any university at all, "
Hall said.
Hall:
Pay is healthy but
some warning lights
are starting to blink.
While three-quarters of
respondents have been
at the same employer for
at least five years, twothirds
have considered
leaving or have found
another job.
" They're loyal.
However, their eyes are
roaming, " Hall said.
" There are potentially a
lot of bosses who are perhaps
complacent. You
know, this guy has been
here for 20 years. Do you
really think he's going to
quit? "
Michael Wyant, COO
of the Wyant Group
based in Saskatoon, said
Wyant: " We
do everything
we can to
make sure
[employees]
have what
they need
to be
successful. "
FILE PHOTO
his company is not having turnover issues
at its 18 dealerships, which employ about
700 people in Saskatchewan, Alberta and
British Columbia. And that's no accident.
PREVENTING A STAFF CHURN
" We really do believe - and I think our
employees as well believe - that the grass
is pretty green where they are, " Wyant
said.
The company has invested in a comprehensive
benefits package and training
Dealership
employees
are loyal,
" However,
their eyes are
roaming. "
FILE PHOTO
55% make
<$150,000
2023 RETAIL SALARY SURVEY
$186,500
manager average
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in
October by Research+Knowledge
=Insights, an independent research
company based in Toronto. It calculated
the responses of 173 dealership
employees on the audience list
of Automotive News Canada. The
margin of error was plus or minus
seven percentage points, 19 times
out of 20.
and education and offers opportunities for
internal advancement.
" Going across the street doesn't give
them the same opportunity that we do, "
Wyant said.
" We don't have those issues, but we
also have a concerted effort not to have
those issues.
" It's the air that all our managers
breathe. We just understand the importance
of employees and we do everything
we can to make sure that they have what
they need to be successful. "
More than half of managers - 51 per
cent - responding to the survey said
a direct report has resigned in the past
12 months. A large majority of managers
- 70 per cent - said the employees
could have been retained: 46 per cent said
by way of a raise; 32 per cent by helping
employees with workload and stress management;
26 per cent by increasing visibility
and recognition; and 25 per cent by
providing additional time off.
UpAuto President Michael Carmichael
said his dealership group is more " in
tune " with retention than it was three
years ago. UpAuto has four dealerships
in southwestern Ontario with about 70
employees.
The methods identified in the survey to
keep staff - including reducing stress and
increasing recognition - all boil down to
one word for Carmichael: " Culture. "
" If you've got the leadership team that's
in tune with their team, these things
should resolve themselves through communication
and balance, " he said.
COMPENSATION TRENDS
Wyant saw a big increase in pay for his
teams in 2023, largely related to a higher
cost of living and competition for employees.
" It
wasn't based on us having higher
returns on sales [but] on the employees
needing more money just to live their
lives, " he said.
" We were losing people to other industries
for crazy hourly wages. In Alberta,
a journeyman technician that makes $42
an hour is getting offered $55 or $60 to go
work in the oil patch. It wasn't other dealers
trying to poach our employees, but
other industries like mining and forestry.
For our skilled workers, we had to give
raises. "
He expects wages will rise for 2024, just
not at the same pace as they have in the
past couple of years.
" It doesn't mean that there are not
going to be small increases across the
Carmichael:
Even more
than pay,
the key to
keeping
people comes
down to
culture.
FILE PHOTO
board. They're just not
going to be significant like
[2023], based on the economic
environment. "
That includes higher
interest rates, which are
keeping some customers
off the lots, Wyant said.
Compensation for
employees with variable
pay has risen as
gross margins have " gone
through the roof " in
recent years, Carmichael
said. For other staff, such
as technicians, pay has
also been rising.
The industry lost many
technicians through the pandemic, with
some retiring and others rethinking priorities,
he said. That is putting upward pressure
on pay. Over the past three years, the
door rate - the hourly rate that the dealership
charges for work - has gone up 25 to
30 per cent, Carmichael said.
" For rough math, we'll say we were
charging $100 per hour, and technicians
were making $27 of that hour. Now, fast forward,
and we're selling that same hour for
$130, and the technician is now making $33. "
While the automotive market is healthy,
room remains for recovery. Demand is still
down from 2019, Carmichael said, and a big
reason for higher prices has been a lack of
vehicle inventory.
" Supply has gone way down and hasn't
recovered to pre-pandemic levels. At the
same time, with current interest rates, I'm
kind of glad it hasn't, " because of higher
carrying costs.
Before the pandemic, Carmichael would
have had 85 vehicles at his General Motors
store and 55 on his Subaru lot.
" Right now, I've got 30 units on the
ground at GM and four on the ground at
Subaru, " he said. - ANC
Above average
37%
Salary breakdown
Respondents were asked to choose one of the following brackets
Below average
55%
$87,700
employee average
Average bracket
(Statistical average: $169,800)
Salary breakdown by job title
Including commissions and bonuses, before taxes and deductions (in thousands of dollars)
Average salary
versus 2022
Average per cent
commission 2023
Weekly hours
worked 2023
Automotive News Canada - January 2024

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