RV Service Technician is Third-Fastest Growing Job in America
RV service technicians have become the third-fastest growing job across the United States in 2020. Salary comparison site PayScale used crowdsourced data from 4.33 million people to find the jobs with the highest share of growth in 2020 compared to the previous year.
PayScale’s ensuing list of the hottest jobs of 2020 features few surprises. It’s dominated by healthcare-related jobs, from nurses and EMS directors to laboratory assistants and molecular biologists. Health screeners saw the biggest jump at 136 percent, with personal shoppers not far behind at 125 percent.
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But RV service technicians were in a comfy third with a 97 percent growth, and that might raise some eyebrows. How did the COVID-19 pandemic cause people to need more recreational vehicle techs?
While 2020 was a tough year for many businesses, the RV industry was a major exception. After the spring shutdown, RV manufacturers enjoyed record sales figures for the rest of the year as Americans took to RVing as a means to travel while practicing social distancing.
RV interest has soared among all demographics (millennials in particular) and as a result, 2020 sales actually exceeded 2019 sales despite the shutdown. December’s shipment numbers have yet to be released, but they weren’t needed. RVs had already managed the feat by November.
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Despite this, the RV Industry Association says COVID-19 isn’t the sole cause behind the growth of RV service technician jobs. President Curt Hemmeler says that even before 2020, there had been a shortage of service technicians.
“It is the third-fastest growing job, obviously driven by the tremendous amount of RVs that have been selling, not just in the last year,” Hemmeler said. “We’ve had a continuous trend which was really what started the initial investment in RVTI. But it was definitely accelerated this past year, as I believe we just recorded the fourth-biggest (shipment) year on record.”
Hemmeler estimates there is still a demand for 20 percent more RV service technicians on top of the existing 15,000 in the U.S.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.