When field service technicians with 25 years of experience resign or retire, filling the vacancies is straightforward. However, what truly departs is a wealth of undocumented knowledge: the finisher that jams only in a customer’s humid basement, the account manager who says “fine” but means “fix it,” and the misleading fault code. This knowledge is invaluable, does not expire, and often lacks a successor.
This is a widespread issue. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 867,700 annual openings in production occupations through 2035, with most positions replacing departing employees rather than reflecting growth. Office technology dealers are already experiencing these challenges. Eakes Office Solutions, which employs 37 field technicians in Nebraska, reports increasing difficulty in hiring. According to the HR director, many new candidates prefer IT roles and often lack mechanical repair skills, requiring the company to provide additional training.
Despite awareness of the issue, most organizations lack systematic approaches when it comes to techs who retire. An APQC survey of 1,000 professionals published last October found that 41% said their organization rarely or never attempts to capture knowledge from retiring employees, and over 10% have no transition plan. (The study was sponsored by eGain, a knowledge-management software vendor.) Typically, knowledge transfer is limited to a final-week exit interview, attempting to condense decades of experience into 60 minutes.
Can technology hold what a tech carries?
Technology can replace some of the knowledge that techs carry into the sunset as they retire. Video capture is effective for procedural knowledge, such as a senior technician narrating a fuser teardown or an installer demonstrating a network setup. These recordings are searchable, transcribable, and summarizable. The industry is also adopting AI knowledge bases that aim to convert individual technicians’ solutions into shared resources. As Jonathan Blakey, tech VP of Technology Assurance Group, stated in BTA’s Office Technology, without such systems, technician expertise “resides inside the minds of your staff members — who can get sick, quit, go on leave.” This perspective is notable, given the group’s interest in promoting these solutions.
However, no repository can capture judgment, such as prioritizing service calls or knowing which accounts require a personal call before invoicing. This type of knowledge is best transferred through direct experience. Successful dealers rely on structured mentoring. Adams Remco Inc. (South Bend, Indiana) provides intensive mentoring for new technicians over 90 days. Eakes divides a new hire’s time between manufacturer e-learning and ride-alongs with senior technicians, rotating mentors after two weeks to expose new employees to different approaches. Train-the-trainer programs are most effective when retirees are engaged early, compensated, and recognized as instructors.
Selling the van to the next hire
Wendy Hagerstrand, operations director at Novatech (Nashville, Tennessee), invites candidates to participate in a ride-along before extending an offer and is direct about the company’s approach: Do not present the organization as solely a copier repair company; instead, highlight the career path from service technician to IT, solutions, and production roles. This reframing is important. Asking a recruit to “fill Dave’s shoes” sets an unrealistic expectation, while inviting them to build on Dave’s playbook and contribute to its next chapter presents a clear career opportunity.
Hiring for a job with no diploma
Mark Marshall, Adams Remco’s corporate services manager, prioritizes candidates with strong customer service skills and mechanical aptitude, stating, “we can teach them anything else.” He often recruits from fields such as cable installation and appliance delivery, where employees are accustomed to working with multiple customers. This is a genuine example of skills-based hiring. However, research indicates most employers do not follow through: a Harvard Business School and Burning Glass Institute study of 11,300 roles found that removing degree requirements led to actual hiring changes in fewer than one in 700 positions. Where implemented, non-degreed hires remained with the company 10% longer than their degreed counterparts.
The use of AI in hiring is increasing. A Resume Genius survey of 1,500 hiring managers found that the proportion using AI to screen résumés rose from 35% to 58% in one year (source: a résumé-builder company). While AI can efficiently match qualifications on paper, it cannot assess qualities such as perseverance or clarify whether “serviced Konica Minolta bizhub fleet” indicates hands-on experience. Applicants are aware of these limitations: Pew found that 66% would not apply to employers using AI in hiring decisions. Although this is 2022 data, recent figures do not indicate increased trust.
The healthy path, before they retire
Dealer owners, don’t procrastinate and wait until service technicians are about to retire. Prepare now. Document knowledge as early as possible, using video and input from current technicians. Transfer experiential knowledge through compensated mentoring. Hire for trainability and allow service managers, rather than automated systems, to assess intangible qualities. Be transparent with new technicians: they are not expected to replicate their predecessor, but to build on the role and improve it.
