Episode
That Empty Bay Is Costing You $175,000 a Year: The Real Math Behind Recruiting (Or Not Recruiting) [E213]
- Podcast
- Business By The Numbers
- Published
- Mar 12, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2827
- Processing state
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Summary
Thanks to our partners Promotive and Wicked File What if that empty bay in your shop is costing you $175,000 a year? What happens when your best technician walks in on Friday afternoon and says they're not coming back Monday? In this episode, Hunt Demarest welcomes back Chris Lawson from Technician Find — the first returning guest on Business by the Numbers. Chris tackles the question shop owners struggle with most: Can you really afford to invest in recruiting when money is tight? Drawing on real shop data, Hunt and Chris break down the hidden cost of empty bays ($175,000 per year in lost gross profit for the average shop) and why treating recruiting as an optional expense is costing shops far more than any recruiting service ever could. Chris explains why recruiting is fundamentally different from advertising — you're not looking for people actively searching for jobs, you're reaching employed technicians who need a compelling reason to take the risk of leaving where they are. This requires completely different messaging, targeting strategies, and an understanding that ChatGPT-written ads on Indeed all look identical because they're copying each other. The conversation covers everything from why shops get 10+ applicants per opening while others get zero, to the emerging concept of "bench building" — maintaining relationships with potential hires before you desperately need them. This episode also dives into compensation strategy, the importance of running competitive salary surveys, and why the trades are positioned for continued wage growth as AI threatens white-collar careers but can't turn a wrench. Whether you're fully staffed and looking to build insurance against turnover, or scrambling to fill an empty bay, this conversation provides a framework for thinking a…