Technician Training: Shops Demand Return to Instructor-Led, Hands-On Classrooms

The ASE Training Managers Council (ATMC) has released the findings of its annual Training Benchmarks survey. The takeaway is clear: service technicians in the automotive, commercial truck, and collision repair sectors want fewer screens and more hands-on practice.

The study provides a deep-dive analysis of technician needs, industry trends, and workforce development priorities. Reflecting heightened engagement across the sector, participation in this edition surged by nearly 65 percent compared to last year, providing an exceptionally representative overview for shop owners and fleet managers.

The report demonstrates that technicians favor practical education that translates directly to their service bays. Electrical/electronic systems, hybrid and electric vehicle (EV) technologies, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) calibration, and advanced engine performance rank as the most requested training topics.

Concurrently, the survey highlights the structural barriers shops face in maintaining team skills, notably a lack of specialized courses, scheduling conflicts with daily production, inconsistent program quality, and training costs.

The definitive highlight of this study is the strong preference for structured, instructor-led learning environments. Technicians expressed a clear demand for live classroom instruction, provided it is paired with dedicated workshop lab time.

This need for tactile, real-world application remains critical for building technician confidence as vehicle architectures grow increasingly complex. This massive jump in survey participation proves that the industry is ready to actively invest in better educational opportunities to tackle modern aftermarket challenges.