Scania looks overseas for techs

The first nine Filipino technicians of a group of 15 are settling into their new roles at Scania branches around Australia.

Six are already at work in Melbourne, two in Sydney, and one in Adelaide, with six more due to arrive soon.

Scania says the heavy-vehicle diesel technicians are experienced and have worked within the heavy engineering service and repair industries for many years, both in their home country and abroad, and they bring a strong work ethic and expertise, in line with the company’s values.

According to Michele Gellatly, Director of People and Culture at Scania, the arrival of the Filipino technicians has filled a gap that a lot of companies are experiencing with a lack of available experienced technicians across the industry.

“We have seen a shortage of suitably qualified locally-sourced technicians within Australia. This appears to be a wide-spread problem across the transport industry, as mining picks up and draws in large numbers of heavy vehicle technicians,” she said.

“Across Scania Australia’s company-owned service and repair branches we have several open positions for technicians even now, and we have taken in a full complement of first-year apprentices in 2022, as well.

“In all, we have record levels of apprentices working for us, but we still need additional qualified technicians,” Ms Gellatly added.

In 2020, Michele travelled to the Philippines with Michael Berti, Scania’s Regional Executive Manager WA, SA and QLD, to meet with prospective technicians.

“We were fortunate to meet the technicians as part of the selection process. All of the technicians from the Philippines are fully qualified and hold an AUR31116 - Certificate III in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology,” she said.

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“We have two new technicians working on our night shift from 4pm to mid-night,” said Daniel Milutinovic, Scania Prestons (NSW) Branch Manager. “They have quickly integrated with the existing crew and we’re now able to deliver an even better service to our customers with a full complement on the tools. When the brand new Scania-owned Eastern Creek branch opens later this month, our two new guys, Allan and Enrique will transfer across to the new facility and we will add in a further three new arrivals at Prestons,” he said.

“Scania is a high quality employer for technicians. We offer good pay and conditions, access to the latest tools and electronic diagnosis systems, that ensure our advanced technology trucks and buses deliver good uptime,” Daniel says.

“Scania in Australia is a very multi-cultural organisation from the workshop floor to the executive management level, and we all work together in a very harmonious way. In our workshops you would find a very diverse set of backgrounds, with many UK, European and even South Americans among our teams, so the Filipino technicians who have just arrived will be able to integrate easily,” he said.

Brendan Fulton, Branch Manager at Scania Dandenong in Victoria, agrees: “We’ve had Michael and Archie with us for a few months and they have settled in well. They are getting on with the job and making new friends. They have a very positive attitude and are enthusiastic about the work they’re doing.

“We still have a number of vacant technician positions across multiple shifts. With the advancements in new vehicle technology, we offer all of our technicians an opportunity to become dual trade qualified in both Heavy Vehicle Mechanical & Electrical. At Scania we are committed to creating a positive work culture that offers staff genuine career development pathways,” he concluded.