Business owners say it is not easy to find competent employees for car repair workshops. While technicians and painters can still be found, the situation is much more complicated when it comes to good auto body repair specialists.

For example, in Pärnu there are five professional auto body repair specialists whom car repair workshops lure away from one another with higher pay.

"Those who have already trained and are specialists in this field really have to be searched for high and low. The young guys aren't there yet. Some are very skilled and learn the job very quickly, while for others it is exactly the opposite – somehow the profession just doesn't suit them," said Kristjan Lagern, head of Eurostauto's Pärnu dealership.

Every year, around 20 young prospective technicians start studying at Pärnu Vocational Education Center and recieve their education both in the garage and the classroom. They also learn about electric cars.

"Technology is constantly developing and everything is evolving, but the basics remain the same – a wheel is a wheel, a bearing is a bearing and an engine is an engine. It's just that more and more additional features and control systems are constantly being added. You have to be capable of learning or be diligent, because here we only learn the basics in three to four years, but you have to keep learning all the time," said Priit Auväärt, lead teacher of automotive studies at Pärnu Vocational Education Center (PARK).

But not every student has a passion for the automotive industry. Some are studying only because their parents tell them to.

Car sales company Amserv has spent years ensuring its workshops have a steady supply of enthusiastic specialists. The company supports automotive technology students at Pärnu Vocational Education Center with a scholarship. This year, the €750 scholarship was awarded for the seventh time.

"On the one hand, we certainly want to develop a new generation of employees for ourselves. On the other hand, we ourselves started out young, and this is a good opportunity to now give young people opportunities," said Ahti Aasala, head of aftersales at Amserv Group.

This time, the scholarship and an internship position went to Robin Mitt, a second-year automotive technician student, who has been interested in cars since childhood.

"With friends, there was already this kind of tinkering around with cars, and then I developed a desire and interest in it at home as well. Nowadays, all these cars are becoming full of electronics, and there are countless different electrical devices in them. You definitely need knowledge of the electrical side," Mitt said.

A modern automotive technician must be able to work under the hood, understand electronic devices and, ideally, know how to use TikTok to post informative clips for customers about problems with their cars.

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