The competition for mechanics is so fierce at the moment that wages are exploding. A car dealer in Norway entices with a million kroner as a loan.
The pay for mechanics is rising sharply these days. There is simply a lack of them. And several workshops are now ready to offer an annual loan of up to one million kroner.
This can be seen, among other things, at the car dealer Bauda, which does not hide the mechanic's salary in a job advertisement. But direct lures with a salary of 933,000 Norwegian kroner corresponding to 600,000 Danish kroner.
– There is competition for the most talented. We wanted to think a little "outside the box". To see if it has an effect, says Bauda's HR manager, Vigdis M. Sonsteby, to the industry website Bilbransje24 .
Instead of using the typical wording "competitive terms" about the salary in the job posting, Bauda has to write it in black and white. The announced salary consists of a fixed salary of 480,000 (Norwegian, ed.) kroner and a bonus based on the department's performance.
Sonsteby emphasizes that one must be efficient in order to achieve the high salary. But that DKK 933,000 is based on a 'real average loan'.
– There are also those who earn better than that," says Sonsteby, who believes that it is important to be transparent about the salary in this kind of job posting.
An annual salary of DKK 933,000 is significantly above the average salary for mechanics. According to Statistics Norway, the average salary for a mechanic was NOK 50,690 per month in 2023, which corresponds to an annual salary of NOK 608,280. Or 385,000 Danish kroner.
In comparison, the average annual salary for all sectors in Norway was DKK 676,320 for men and DKK 630,360 for women.
This development in the wage level for mechanics can be seen as a sign that the industry is experiencing a shortage of qualified labour. In order to attract and retain the most talented employees, the workshops need to offer attractive remuneration.
Here at home there is also a shortage of mechanics. Many of the workshops have noticed that their employees are being 'vacuum cleaned' by the pharmaceutical industry. Some workshops have even chosen to close completely. Read more about it here .
