On the Dash:
- Overall dealership worker satisfaction sits at 80%, but drops to 64% for one-to-three-year staff.
- Work-life balance and inadequate benefits emerged as this year’s fastest-growing stress factors.
- 64% of employees don’t plan to leave the auto retail industry, but Gen Z shows the highest flight risk.
According to the newly released 2026 CDK Dealership Workplace Study, four out of five dealership employees, 80%, say they’re satisfied in their roles. But staff with one to three years of experience report the lowest satisfaction of any group, at just 64%.
Now in its third year, the study surveyed 436 dealership employees on four main areas:
- Satisfaction
- Stress
- Compensation
- Retention
Satisfaction, pride and motivation
Satisfaction and motivation both moved in encouraging directions this year, even as one group lagged behind:
- Overall satisfaction: 80%, down slightly from 82% in 2025 but above 2024’s 74%
- Motivation: 91%, with 72% describing themselves as very motivated
- Pride in the job: 73%, up from prior years
- Top satisfaction driver: enjoying coworkers, cited by 82% of employees
- Satisfaction by tenure: 75% for employees under one year, 64% for one to three years, then above 80% for four years and beyond
What contributes to employee stress
Fewer employees felt overwhelmed by stress this year, though a few specific pressures grew:
- Employees reporting too much stress: 31%, down from 41%
- Top stressor: economic uncertainty, unchanged at 40%
- Work-life balance: rose sharply from 21% to 32%
- Difficult customers: 33% overall, but 48% among Gen Z employees
The state of compensation and benefits
Pay perceptions improved for most employees, but benefits emerged as a growing concern:
- Employees who feel pay reflects their effort: 69%, up from 67%
- Employees who feel pay reflects their skill: 67%, up from 62%
- Gen Z saw the largest gains in both categories
- Employees citing inadequate benefits: 43%, up from 32%, the only dissatisfaction category to worsen
- Among employees considering leaving the industry, 95% named benefits as a factor
Keys to employee retention and referrals
Most retention indicators improved, though younger employees remain the biggest flight risk:
- Employees with no plans to leave the auto retail industry: 64%
- Highest likelihood of leaving: Gen Z, at 47%
- Willingness to recommend a career in the industry: 30%, up from 26%
- Gen Z is most likely to recommend the field, despite also being most likely to leave it
CDK’s report suggests that dealers can improve retention by identifying at-risk employees, extending training beyond the first year, and strengthening benefits like insurance and retirement savings plans.
