As the manufacturing industry’s candidate shortage proves to be a steadfast and scaling problem, businesses in the sector are facing a host of recruitment challenges. This includes (but is certainly not limited to) experiencing long-term difficulty with…
- Reaching qualified candidates.
- Attracting and retaining quality talent.
- Converting candidates into employees.
Alongside their struggle to secure individuals that have experience within the sector, numbers seem to be dwindling even at an entry level. In fact, 77 percent of manufacturers believe they will have ongoing attraction and retention difficulties as thousands of jobs are left open for months (Source: Insight Global).
To overcome this, businesses need to commit to a strategic recruitment shift. Are you ready?
The Recruitment Challenges Faced by UK Manufacturing
There are multiple factors that could have caused the manufacturing industry’s candidate shortage but, according to Deloitte, the problem largely stems from the sheer number of competition coming from similar sectors.
It seems that everyone is on the hunt for skilled workers.
Roles in other engineering-adjacent fields (such as Technology and Logistics) have diverted talent interest elsewhere, promising higher salaries, better benefits, and impressive job satisfaction.
That’s not all.
Although employees in the manufacturing field are still expressing their love for the work they do, externally, a bad reputation has been formed. According to a Recruitics report from May 2023, “There is a perception that manufacturing roles are low-skilled as well as low-paid. There is [also] a belief that the tasks undertaken are repetitive and involve heavy machinery.”
How to Be Smart with Your Recruitment
Despite the number of hurdles that seem to lie between you and your ideal employees, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Simply by being smart with your recruitment and adapting the way you acquire talent through a partnership with Scantec, you can give yourself a competitive advantage in this complex climate.
Step 1: Do Your Research
Instead of comparing your job postings to identical ones in the manufacturing industry, you need to start looking further afield. As we’ve discovered, candidates aren’t entirely sold on working in manufacturing and will be looking at multiple opportunities across similar verticals. To catch their attention, then, you need to compare your offer to other jobs targeted at the same pool of candidates to ensure you are being competitive.
Step 2: Write Clear and Detailed Job Descriptions
Once you have done your research, you need to dedicate time to writing clear and detailed job descriptions. These can take a while to perfect but are worth committing to. The more detail you can provide your future candidates, the more likely they are to not only apply but actually accept a job offer in the future. It can be really disappointing when a candidate makes it through several rounds of interviews only to find out that a role isn’t what they expected it to be. By being upfront and transparent at this stage, you can attract the best talent right off the bat.
Step 3: Assign a Recruitment Budget
A single post on a job board isn’t enough. According to HR Grapevine, in order to secure talent in this challenging recruitment environment, you need to be sharing your posting in all the right places. This can involve buying adverts, designing a social media campaign, and executing creative marketing tactics that will get the word out there. Without a budget, you will struggle to reach your target audience and gain traction.
“Recruitment marketing budgets aren’t keeping up with the expected increase in hiring levels. Just 24% of respondents reported an increase – with 36% having less to spend.”
- Eploy’s 2023 UK Candidate Attraction Report
Step 4: Work with Specialist External Recruiters
Across the manufacturing industry, we saw the use of internal recruiters boom post-covid. However, these staff members (despite trying their best) are struggling to keep up with the rapidly evolving digital climate, often working in the same way that they always have with the same, limited resources. You need to consider working with someone like Scantec, who has a vast audience of quality talent that are already looking for their next opportunity.
Your Perfect Recruitment Partner: Scantec
At Scantec, recruitment is our full-time job. We have a significant amount of experience in finding candidates within the manufacturing industry and are constantly dedicating time to networking and expanding our reach. With a significant amount of power behind us, we can overcome the recruitment challenges you face and deliver the very best talent for your business.
Recruiting Through Scantec
At Scantec, we prioritise finding the perfect fit for our businesses and candidates alike. Our recruiters take time to look at both the hard and soft skills of each applicant - selecting someone that will thrive in their new role and embrace every challenge that comes their way. If you are currently hiring or looking for a job, get in touch with us today.
