Automotive Technician Jobs: 50 Years Post-Eisenhower

By Stanley Rubenti
Career Colleges Columnist

When President Eisenhower commissioned the "Great Highway Project" during the 1950s, it was a tremendous boon to the Post-Depression economy. Not only did it allow many more Americans to travel and work farther away from home, but it also created a whole new array of engineering, transportation, and automotive jobs. Roughly 50 years later, most of America is paved, but there has hardly been a dip in the number of automotive, manufacturing, technician, or engineering jobs available to qualified individuals.

Automotive Technician Jobs of Today

Because the highway system is essentially complete, one might believe that there are no more automotive technician, engineering, or highway jobs available. But in fact, new technologies, safety regulations, and travel requirements have helped make the transportation industry even more reliant on those with sufficient qualifications. Take, for example, the increased safety requirements proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration early in 2007. These proposals alone will probably help create many more positions. Automotive technicians have little to worry about with regards to jobs and employment security, thanks to:

Increased population surges that place greater stress on already congested areas.
More demand for traffic management and highway safety.
International competition in automotive engineering.
A need for homeland security and checkpoints.
Increased demand for environmentally friendly, fuel efficient cars.

The popularity of GPS technology that allows commuters and vacationers to travel even greater distances across the continental US.

Preparing for Automotive Technician Jobs

Although all indications suggest that highway and automotive technician jobs will be plentiful in the coming years, they will only be available to those with sufficient training at the associate, bachelors, or graduate level. An automotive technician, for example, needs to master all of the math and computer science necessary to service today's sophisticated vehicles. An urban planner or traffic specialist might have to secure even more training at the bachelors level or higher to perform his or her duties. The point is, brute strength, dedication and a willingness to work are no longer sufficient in a post-Eisenhower economy. Skills, training, and expertise are necessary to handle most of today's transportation jobs. Get the training you need through an automotive technician degree or training program!

Sources:
MSNBC – "Transportation czar urges crash-test revamp"
US Department of Labor

About the Author
A freelance writer, Stanley Rubenti currently lives in Bangkok where he writes columns for a variety of publications. Stanley holds a B.A. in history.

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