The UK motorcycle industry is scrambling to diversify its personnel, and is in an age crisis, according to the MCIA and other industry figures.
The motorcycle industry’s ageing demographic has led to a skills shortage in the UK, and the industry remains relatively stagnant.
Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) CEO, Tony Campbell, said that “Over the past two decades, we have been great at servicing an ageing rider community; this in large part is mirrored by our workforce. In my view, we have an identity problem when it comes to attracting young talent to the industry.”
The reality of mortality is that to solidify the future of the things we create and enjoy and develop it is necessary to pass on those things to younger people. Motorcycling is not exempt from this, yet it is something which it has - in the UK at least - generally neglected recently.
This also has knock-on effects for people who are in the industry, which struggles to grow as a result of being unable to attract new people to it.
None of this is to say that having older people in the industry is bad, just that having significantly more older people than younger people is not the best thing for the future of the industry.
At Motorcycle Live last year, the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) reports, there was a move to try to attract younger people into the industry. There, the MCIA partnered with BikeJobs, a recruitment firm, and the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), to set up a ‘Careers Hub’ stand.
The stand attracted 150 enquiries. 21.5% of these were from young women; while 78% of those interested were under 30. 28% were between 17- and 20-years-old.
The idea is to try to create more desire among young people to work in the motorcycle industry, as technicians, for example, or sales people.
Chair of the BMF, Jim Freeman, said: “The bedrock of the relationship between riders and the trade lies in the service department, recognising that and developing it is vital. Buying a bike is easy, what keeps the relationship going is the service department, not all riders are capable of DIY maintenance, despite the popular image.”
