ST. LOUIS — During the month of May on today in St. Louis, 5 On Your Side reporter Sydney Stallworth has been reporting on careers you can start without a college degree. The search led the reporter straight to skilled trades careers.
South Technical High School in Sunset Hills, Missouri has an auto-tech program for students. There, the teens learn auto repair skills on top of their typical reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Every day, students are bussed onto South Tech's campus from across St. Louis County for half the school day, to get special training in their chosen industries of study. The auto-tech program is open to high school juniors and seniors.
Once the students graduate, they'll be 'student' certified in Automotive Service Excellence.
John Arndt, the Automotive Instructor at South Tech High School tells our reporter, "Some go straight into the workforce, they’re all eligible for entry-level positions -- like the tire and lube.”
Trades industries are desperate for skilled workers. The skilled trades industry is expected to grow 10% by 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the same amount of time, more than 3,000,000 skilled trades job openings are expected to go unfilled in the US.
The auto-mechanic industry has about 500,000 people working across the country right now. But, that number needs to double by the end of 2024 to keep up with a quickly growing workforce demand.
The South Technical students are encouraged to consider going on to participate in two or four-year programs to get special certification in auto-tech and raise their earning potential.
With the skilled worker shortage, employees have much more negotiating power.
Randy Harman, a talent acquisition manager with Lou Fusz Automotive tells our reporter, "They're going to be in high demand in the next five years." He adds, We've seen over the past three to four years, pay has increased dramatically."
Businesses like Lou Fusz are thinking ahead and planning to dodge the worst of the auto worker shortage by sponsoring and recruiting from these types of programs.
Harman says, "Normally, the students that come straight out of high school will start with us either in the detail shop or as a detail tech doing oil changes, tire rotations and things like that. But, I do recommend these students that graduate from high school do go to a two or four year program to get those certifications."
Charlie Chavez, a junior in the auto-tech class says from Lindbergh High School tells our reporter, "Going to a trade school like Rankin or STLCC Forest Park in their automotive division is so much cheaper than going to a four-year college.”
Annie Frisch is a junior from Lutheran South High School who's also in the program. She says, "Since I've been here I started learning a lot more about how I can live off this. You can make a lot of money doing it, especially for females."
Gender equality in the industry stalled out during the pandemic, dropping from 12,000 women working in the auto industry in 2019 to just 4,000 by 2020. Today, there are around 130,000 women working in the field. But, the industry is still 90% male.
Incoming high school juniors in St. Louis County who are interested in the South Technical High School auto-tech program for Fall 2025 admissions can apply for consideration in September.