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[Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles about how the HVAC industry is addressing the labor shortage issue.]
Many HVAC contractors have come face-to-face with the unthinkable: customers who can't get service because of a shortage of qualified technicians. An all-too-common sight is lost revenue and lost goodwill because a contractor can't send someone out on an emergency no-heat call or to repair a broken air conditioner.
Some contractors make up for a lack of qualified technicians by hiring anyone who can turn a wrench. Their employee roster contains a lot of bodies and not enough good technicians. While those bodies may be more affordable when it's time to make payroll, they are likely to create enough callbacks to make them a liability rather than an asset to the company.
Sound distressing? It is - and it is a situation that has played itself out for several years in the HVAC trade.
THE FIRST STEP: RECRUITING
It isn't easy recruiting when there is a negative perception of the HVAC field. Chris Colditz of LACO Mechanical Services, Elk Grove Village, 111., knows that all too well. "I am completely shorthanded and am hearing from other companies, both large and small, of their shortages, too," she said. "Few techs want to get up in the middle of the night for service calls, and we see many techs doing side jobs, which further destroys the market."
Fighting the perception and the reality of working in the field are just two factors that hinder recruitment. With so much competition for new hires and so few avenues of recruitment, HVAC contractors are always looking for the magic potion to call attention to their own businesses. To some, offering a competitive wage and benefit package is the key. But in order to do that, they must be on solid ground, profitably speaking, in order to provide a good entry-level salary.
"We have also found that the best way to attract and keep professionals is to charge enough for our services that we can in turn pay good wages, and provide excellent benefits, and provide late model vehicles, paid vacation, paid holidays, and 40i(k) with matching contributions (50 percent on the first 6 percent) and a profit...