Manufacturing is a significant part of the economy, but many manufacturers are finding it hard to fill up the slots for their manual labor jobs. A lack of skills, a negative perception, and a shrinking recruitment pool have made it difficult for some companies to fill up the positions they need. With people thinking that manufacturing is a dead-end career path, many young people are opting to learn skills for other jobs. This is a problem for you since you need people.
However, there are solutions to your problem. Here are a few tips that should be a big help when you’re looking for employees:
Organize School Tours and Open Houses
One of the big problems that face manufacturers who want skilled employees is that as many as one in three parents want their child to choose a non-manufacturing job. That’s a large amount of discouragement. This is why you need to show people that manufacturing is a viable way to earn a living. Show off your workplace and the skill of your workers as well as your treatment of them. If you can convince even three out of ten to try for a manufacturing career, then you’ve got a potential recruit in the future.
Expand Your Search
If you’re looking for employees, you should try to expand your usual parameters. Most of the time, management looks only at young, male employees. However, consider looking into women and the long-term unemployed. If they have the skills or the willingness to learn, then you possibly have a large pool of potential workers right there.
Think of Veterans
One of the best choices that you’ve got for employment is veterans. Former soldiers know about discipline and hard work. The great thing about it is that they are also willing to learn. They might not be trained for civilian jobs, but being in the armed forces is a reasonable basis for being in an organization and for being a team player – something that you should be looking for in your employees.
Offer Apprenticeships
This is where apprenticeships come in. The chief complaint that most manufacturers have is that they don’t get skilled workers. Instead of looking for them, why not make them? Just have a training team ready to accept people who are willing to learn, whether they are students or older. For students, this is a great way to develop the skills to enter the workforce – and it is better than spending money on college. For others, it is a great way to train themselves for the necessary skills.
Be Competitive When It Comes to Pay and Benefits
Remember that you are not the only company looking for skilled workers. This is why you need to offer good pay and benefits to your employees. This allows you to retain them and attract workers who are dissatisfied with their current workplace.
The heart of any company is its employees. With the tips above, you should be able to recruit some good people for your company. Now, all you need to do is work with them to give them an environment that develops their skills and allows them to be the best that they can be.
