Manufacturing Recruitment Challenges
Manufacturing Recruitment Challenges and Tips to Build and Keep a Strong Staff
Manufacturing jobs account for approximately 8.6% of all jobs in the U.S., with an expectation that more than 3.5 million in additional workers will be needed within the next decade. Will your company be able to keep up with the worker demand?
What Are the Biggest Challenges?
Not only does the current staffing shortage affect many industries, but manufacturing has a particular dearth of qualified candidates. As the older generations retire, younger employees are needed and yet they are less interested in going into manufacturing than previous generations. Why?
It’s a cycle that starts with recruitment issues, then lack of employee engagement followed up with the discouragement of education and training, and finally, safety concerns. By addressing these issues, manufacturing firms would be better able to build and retain the highly specialized staff they need.
Despite the (untrue) speculation that manufacturing jobs are being taken over by machines, humans with problem-solving capabilities and specialized skills are needed in manufacturing more than ever. Finding these highly qualified candidates is not easy for any human resources department and it takes a lot of time, money and knowledge to hire qualified employees.
The turnover rate for manufacturing positions is high due in part due to a lack of employee engagement and also in part because of safety concerns. Young people hear about a manufacturer that doesn’t care about the safety and care of their employees and are unwilling to take those chances. Ensuring that your business is known for its safety record and practices will help to attract those younger employees that might otherwise be scared off.
Education and training should be included at every level, for every position. Crucial to keeping a highly skilled workforce in place is ensuring that continuing education, training, and professional development are encouraged. This prevents further turnover and also provides higher levels of job satisfaction and employee engagement. Consider offering apprenticeships, if you are not already doing so as this will draw more interest to an open position. You would be able to train a new employee while instilling loyalty, all a smaller cost than other employee roles.
This includes treating safety training as a priority and making it a part of the everyday operations of the business. Management especially should set the example by ensuring they are following all safety guidelines and implementing regular safety training.
How a PEO Can Help Address These Challenges
Handling these types of employee management issues can be expensive, time-consuming and draining on other resources. Having a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) handle these concerns can free up money and time, while also succeeding in creating the staff you dream of. See how we helped a customer do just that here.
PEOs also have a larger budget and a wider reach than individual companies. This means they can afford to do the specialized searches and legwork needed to find the candidates your business needs.
PEOs entice potential employees to consider working for you by:
- Offering benefits packages that single employers might not be able to provide.
- Giving you the ability to offer higher salaries due to the lower costs of benefits.
- Providing more employee engagement as your efforts focus more on the retention instead of the acquisition of new employees.
- Helping coordinate risk management in multiple locations.
- Advising how to create and implement risk management programs anywhere you need them
Need help recruiting for manufacturing positions or help with employee retention? A leader in the human resources outsourcing industry, G&A Partners combines HR expertise with innovative technology to deliver the service and solutions businesses need to more effectively manage their workforce, from hire to retire. Call us today at 866-634-6713 or schedule your free consultation.