CGRS holds out for best techs despite nationwide shortage
An article in the fourth quarter 2017 issue of the PEI Journal echoes the challenges CGRS, Inc. is facing when it comes to finding quality service technicians – the people who are CGRS to many of our customers.
In her article “Top 10 Industry Issues,” Kristen Wright writes that there just aren’t enough service techs.
And why is that?
“The general public is unaware of the career possibilities,” Wright says. “It’s hard to find candidates who are interested in and qualified for the positions. It costs a lot to train them. There’s no single industry resource because several manufacturers make different models of the equipment. Regulations vary by state and region.”
And the list goes on.
With the U.S. unemployment rate dropping to 3.8 percent in May, many industries are struggling to find and keep good employees.
At CGRS, the growing demand for services – and, therefore, technicians – has directly affected our non-emergent response times. “Our ability to respond within hours or even a day or two to non-emergent issues has become a challenge,” says Kris Quantz, Compliance Services manager. “Our first priority is jobs we’re already working on, those already scheduled and emergencies.”
And striking a balance between paying competitive wages to attract and retain quality technicians while offering our customers fair price points is more challenging than ever, as well.
CGRS recognizes that our employees are our No. 1 asset and we can’t afford to lower our standards to hire just anyone. And those we hire must be in it for the long haul:
- It takes two years – bare minimum – to train new technicians to a point where they can work somewhat independently;
- We must then trust our techs to drive a truck loaded with equipment for an entire day, either by themselves or with a partner, to do the job we’ve asked them to do;
- And we ask them to earn numerous fuel-system certifications – including for every state CGRS does business in, as necessary – to perform the various compliance tests we offer.
Not even a labor shortage will affect the standards by which CGRS measures its technician candidates. You, our customers, can trust that, when you see CGRS compliance technicians on your sites, that we’ve hired the best available. They’re working for you now, too.
