Addressing the Factory Talent Shortage
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Factories around the U.S. are feeling the pain of a major talent shortage. While manufacturing activity soars, so do open positions, and there just aren’t enough applicants. According to CNN: “More than three-quarters of manufacturing executives (77%) surveyed said they expect to have trouble attracting and retaining workers this year and beyond.” It’s estimated that this labor shortage could cost the American economy upwards of $1 trillion within the next nine years.
Factory jobs are typically well paying, and often don’t require a college degree for entry-level positions. So why so few applications? Public perception may play a part.
The general perception of factory jobs in the US is that they are low paying, physically demanding, will be replaced by technology or outsourced to another country, and provide no career progression.
In order to get top talent interested in their open positions, manufacturers need to upgrade their image – or what we in the talent acquisition biz call “employer brand.” If candidates perceive your available positions as low paying, with no ability to grow and move into leadership roles, they won’t want to take the risk with your organization.
It’s More Than a Job
Someone can always find another job, especially right now with so many open positions. If all you offer employees is baseline benefits and industry standard salary, you won’t attract top talent, and you definitely won’t recruit passive talent to your facility.
Working at your company should be more than just a job, it should be a positive experience that helps your employees grow and evolve as people, not just employees. Offering above average pay and benefits is a start, but the real progress comes in caring about the employee as a person and prioritizing their wellbeing. Your employees often spend more time at work than they do with their families, so they need to feel appreciated.
It also pays to provide guided career progression. Let your employees know there is a position waiting beyond their current role AND show them how to get there.
Factories Still Need Local Humans
It’s true that technology is quickly infiltrating the manufacturing industry, but that doesn't negate the need for people. Technology must be maintained, some jobs are simply better suited to the problem-solving skills and agility of a person over a machine, and it’s easier to manage those people locally, rather than overseas.
Robots are great at repetitive or dangerous jobs, but when it comes to roles that require nuance, physical touch (feeling for imperfections, perhaps), or depth of knowledge, people excel. And factories are starting to notice. Tesla CEO Elon Musk "admitted that Tesla had miscalculated by turning toward heavy automation at its Fremont, Calif., assembly line. After production issues mounted, the electric-car maker reversed course and started giving tasks back to people” (from NPR).
Reverse public perspective by reminding people that factories run because of humans – not robots, and that makes better products and better jobs.
Don’t Try to DIY
You’ve made it this far sourcing and recruiting your own employees, but in this wild west of the “great resignation”, you shouldn’t go it alone – and you don’t have to.
Finding a third-party recruiting partner is a life saver. No longer do you have to find the time, bandwidth, and resources to fill all your open positions. However, the key to working with a recruiting partner is flexibility. The right partner should allow their participation in the project to wax and wane as your needs evolve, without locking your company into an ironclad contract.
We’ve had a lot of success partnering with manufacturing clients in this way, and you can read our case study on one of those projects here.
If you’re struggling to find the right candidates for your open manufacturing positions, reach out to us