Study: Young People Drawn to Tech‑Driven Auto Collision Repair Roles

Young people view collision repair as a stable, technology‑driven career path with competitive earning potential—a positive development for repairers and insurers who continue to face technician shortages and a rising repair complexity that comes with newer vehicles.

CCC Intelligent Solutions and the Collision Repair Education Foundation released new national research gathered from 475 responses from U.S. high school juniors and seniors, community college students, technical and vocational students, along with recent high school graduates who are open to entering the field.

Most (81%) respondents said they want hands‑on work, 82% said they want a career involving technology and 89% cited career growth as a key motivator. Interest increased to 95% when participants learned they would regularly use advanced software and AI tools.

Nearly all (95%) respondents said they feel that collision repair offers more stability than traditional college‑degree careers, and 74% said the field provides higher earning potential.

Nearly seven-in-10 said they believe the work is mostly manual, revealing a common perception that the field is too labor‑intensive (61%), too messy (58%) and too low‑tech (51%). Physical demands were a concern for 30% of respondents, and 29% cited a negative stigma associated with trade careers.

Students reported varied pathways for discovering the industry. Roughly 16% learned about collision repair through social media, 11% through job boards, 9% through family and 8% through search engines. One‑third of respondents said the ability to start working quickly influenced their career considerations. Additional motivators included success stories for 41% of respondents and career fairs or mentorships for 35%.

The Future of Collision Repair Workforce Study was published by CCC Intelligent Solutions, in partnership with the Collision Repair Education Foundation. CCC Intelligent Solutions is a cloud platform provider for the property/casualty insurance industry.