FimiPro Secures Future For Young Auto Mechanics with First JAGAS Recruit
For many of today’s youths, making the transition from school life to work life can be a daunting, even intimidating time in their lives. A new norm – that includes reporting to work on time, every day; to getting through daily tasks without a teacher to nudge them or extend a deadline – can take quite some getting used to,even for the most organized youth. Along with that is also the uncertainty of landing the job of their choice, a challenge many entering the auto world know all too well, since they often must prove themselves by practically demonstrating their skills before they are entrusted with the job.
All too aware of these challenges young auto technicians face, FimiPro has committed to giving at least two of these individuals a headstart by providing employment for students from the HEART NSTA Trust’s Jamaica German Automotive School (JAGAS) over the next five years.
The employment will be done in two categories – full-time employment of a graduating student and an annual internship for students at an advanced stage of their studies.
FimiPro, which recently recruited its first graduate from JAGAS’ current cohort in their Work-Readiness Programme, says the decision to employ the skills of the students was a no-brainer and part of the company’s longterm strategy to secure and retain some of the finest-trained hands in the industry.
“JAGAS is known for producing agile and industry-ready auto-mechanic service men and women. Along with HEART NSTA Trust, they have had a long history of achieving success, so it just makes sense that we look to them for these alert young minds,” FimiPro CEO Ian Watson, says.
Watson recently twinned his efforts with Communications Consultant CEO Robyn Miller, for a presentation to students and faculty members at the school’s Maxfield Avenue-based outfit, where the two introduced the company and its offerings and shared important insights with students and faculty members on the EV and hybrid automotive world.
The aim of his company’s move, Watson says, is to create employment that provides valuable work experience the graduates and trainees alike can use to build their portfolio whilst exposing them to new technologies in EV and hybrid auto repairs, sales and services. The CEO hopes it will be the start of a sustained inflow of graduates into the business in line with its projected growth.
“We will provide them [the recruit] with training and hands-on experience that they will need to eventually grow and develop within the business and the industry. And when they do decide to leave, they would have had the benefit of working with hybrid technology, which is the direction the industry and world is moving in,” Watson, who is big on adopting environmentally sound practices in his business, explained.
Watson founded FimiPro in 2019 and has grown the business from one that focused only hybrid motor vehicle sales to a now expanded product line that includes hybrid motor vehicle after-sales and services, hybrid scooters and bicycles among other auto essentials.
The compact FimiPro team, which includes Watson, his senior mechanic, and administrative and strategic management staff prides itself on being an emerging leader in EV and hybrid evolution and says with the youth’s integration, the future looks bright for the ‘Hybrid Specialists’.
Looking ahead to the partnership it is embarking on with Jamaica’s youth, Watson says the company will also be seeking to employ female auto mechanics, noting they bring a certain “focus and commitment to the job”. In turn, the CEO plans to mentor his young charges to “harness their potential and create the kind of experience that will empower both themselves and their customers alike”.