As the Baby Boomer generation nears retirement, manufacturers are facing a critical challenge: a shortage of new hires to keep their facility afloat. To fill these roles, human resource managers and recruiters need to understand how to attract and retain Millennial and Gen Z workers. So, what can you do to appeal to this new generation […]
Category: Featured
Analyze Your Attendance Data to Fix Absenteeism
Call-offs, ghosting, no-shows. Whatever you call it, being short-staffed on your production line or in your shipping department causes massive headaches and revenue losses for your business. Most likely, you have a rough idea of what your attendance and absenteeism rates are but don’t know why it’s happening so often or how to fix it. […]
Solving Your Facility’s Absenteeism Problem
Where are the Workers? Every manufacturing and distribution site we talk to has the same problem, absenteeism. What most companies don’t realize is that absentee workers are a symptom of a larger problem, and contrary to popular belief that problem isn’t laziness. The deeper cause of absenteeism is tied to a major shift in how […]
Shift Talk: Flexible Production Jobs – Why Manufacturers Can’t Retain Hourly Workers
Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in an inflexible job and you can never take the break you need? For many hourly production workers, the answer is yes. Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a shift in how people approach work, especially in entry-level production areas, such as manufacturing. Despite a low unemployment rate of […]
Finding Your Hiring Advantage in a Competitive Labor Market
Looking at your own openings, you’re probably not surprised to read job growth in the United States remains relatively strong. In the latest national jobs report, manufacturing was even one of the areas with “notable job gains.” The problem is that “a massive mismatch between supply and demand” continues to challenge businesses looking to hire. […]
Rebooting the Rural Manufacturing Labor Market
Manufacturing is facing a worker shortage – chances are you know that already. But, if you’re trying to hire in the rural manufacturing labor market, you’re facing additional hurdles. Yet, the solution remains the same whether you’re a rural manufacturer or distribution center in the heart of a metropolitan area: flexible working. In Deloitte’s 2021 […]
Why Your Business Should be Thinking about a Flexible Workforce
Workforce management is challenging. In industrial, manufacturing, and distribution environments a common hurdle is resistance to change. Yet, while employees want flex work, many businesses say it can’t be done. Consider these benefits of flexible working for employers before it’s too late. Factories have been in existence for 200 years now. In all that time, […]
Shift Your Perspective – The Future of Staffing is Flexible
Let’s face the facts – the labor struggle is real. In a recent survey of manufacturing HR leaders today, 87% of manufacturers are struggling to fill critical labor gaps and are understaffed 38% of the time. Ouch. Today’s recruitment market hasn’t gone back to “normal” and in fact, HR leaders are faced with a […]
Avoid the Burn and Churn – How to Retain Workers in Your Facility
The labor struggle is real. A recent article by Business Insider quoted a former Amazon manager who oversaw human-resources efforts for warehouse workers, comparing the worker churn at Amazon warehouses to the use of fossil fuels. “We keep using them, even though we know we’re slowly cooking ourselves.” Ouch. If one of the largest warehouse […]
Keeping Up with the Constant “Shift” in Shift Work
Well, it’s been an interesting hiring marketing for manufacturers and distribution centers. Between rising inflation, gas prices doubling, and all federal subsidies and tax credits gone, we’re in a hiring market with many job seekers. The problem? Retaining these workers is another story all together. Absenteeism is running rampant and is causing “2 in 3 […]
