5,500 Techs Were Asked What They Want Most. It Wasn't Money.

5,500 technicians were just asked what they want most from an employer.

Higher pay wasn't #1.

Neither was a tool allowance. Neither was a career path. Neither was air conditioning.

WrenchWay and ASE just released their 2026 Voice of Technician Report — the biggest annual survey of what techs actually think about this industry, their employers, and their careers. Over 5,500 responses from automotive, diesel, and collision techs.

I dug through it so you don't have to. Here's the chart that matters most, then I'll tell you what I think it means for your shop (see attachment).

Let's break this down.

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THE TOP TWO MIGHT SURPRISE YOU

Proper equipment and paid vacation. Tied at 87%. Must-have. Not "nice to have." Not "would be cool."

MUST. HAVE.

That means if your techs are working with a scan tool from 2014, a lift that sticks, or lights that make the shop feel like a cave — they're not just frustrated. They're evaluating their options.

And if you're not offering PTO? You're not even in the conversation. Every other trade offers time off. Plumbers get PTO. Electricians get PTO. The guy who installs garage doors gets PTO. If your shop doesn't, a tech doesn't see a tough-but-fair owner. They see someone who doesn't respect their time.

The good news? Neither of these is expensive. You already need working equipment for production. And PTO is table stakes in 2026. If you've already got both of these dialed in, you're ahead of more shops than you think.

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RETIREMENT LANDED AT 73%

Almost three out of four techs said a retirement plan is a must-have.

Lots of independents don't offer one.

This is one of the easiest wins in the whole list. A Simple IRA with a 3% match isn't complicated to set up and it doesn't break the bank. But most shop owners just never got around to it. It sits on the "someday" list right next to updating the employee handbook.

Meanwhile, the dealership down the road has a 401(k) with matching, and your best tech knows it.

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THE CAREER PATH GAP IS MASSIVE

46% said a well-documented career path is a must-have. Another 48% said nice-to-have. That's 94% of techs who care about this at some level.

Now here's the gut punch: only 27% said their employer actually offers one.

That gap — between what techs want and what shops provide — is where you're losing people. Not to another shop that pays $2 more an hour. To the feeling that they're on a treadmill. Showing up, turning hours, going home. No direction. No milestones. No "here's where this is heading."

You don't need a corporate HR department to fix this. You need a one-page document. "Here's where you are. Here's where you could be. Here's what it takes to get there." Skill benchmarks. Pay tiers. A timeline.

That's the career path. It doesn't have to be fancy. It has to exist.

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HERE'S THE ONE THAT SURPRISED ME

Tool allowance or reimbursement? Only 12% said must-have.

I know. I had to look twice.

74% said nice-to-have. 14% said not important. Dead last on the list.

Now — tools still matter. Nobody's saying they don't. But if you're leading your job ad with your tool program and you haven't addressed PTO, retirement, or equipment? You've got the pitch backwards. You're selling the seasoning when they haven't seen the steak.

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THE NUMBER THAT SHOULD KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT

This wasn't in the chart, but it was in the report.

The technician Net Promoter Score — which measures whether a tech would recommend this career to a friend — dropped to -60 this year. For automotive techs specifically, it's -66.

That's not a yellow flag. That's a five-alarm fire for the industry.

77% of techs said they don't believe the industry is improving. And 38% said they expect to either leave or retire within five years.

Read that again. Four out of ten techs could be gone by 2031.

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SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR SHOP?

Here's what I keep coming back to.

The shops that are fully staffed right now aren't paying the most. They're doing the basics right. Equipment that works. Time off. A retirement plan. Some training. A path forward. And — this is the part most shops miss — they're making sure technicians know about it.

Because a tech can't choose your shop if they don't know you exist. And they can't value your benefits package if it's buried in a conversation that only happens after they've already applied somewhere else.

Techs aren't asking for the moon. Look at that chart again. Working equipment. Vacation. Retirement. Training. That's not unreasonable. For most shops, that's a few phone calls and a decision.

Mark Wilson from WrenchWay put it well — and I'm paraphrasing here — the must-haves on this list aren't perks. They're the bare minimum. The nice-to-haves are where you start to stand out.

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Two questions for you.

Which of these surprised you the most?

And which one is your shop already doing well?

Drop it in the comments. I want to see where this community stacks up.👇

Btw, if you haven't seen the full report yet, grab it here: https://wrenchway.com/blog/2026-voice-of-technician-report-what-the-industry-needs-to-know/

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