To Close the Talent Gap in Manufacturing, Employers Need to Prove to Employees How Valued They Are

From listening to action and attraction

We are now transitioning from listening to meaningful action. This includes revisioning how we attract hourly employees and determining how we can expand our benefits and learning opportunities to create even more value for this critical workforce.

In fact, to help employees with their continuing education, we recently transitioned our tuition reimbursement benefit into a tuition advancement program for our eligible North American employees. Providing tuition payment in advance is intended to ease their financial impact so they can continue to support themselves and their families while they invest in their future. We’re also expanding our tuition program to include technical trade certifications so we can inspire even more employees to pursue roles in manufacturing and skilled trades.

The war for hourly talent is real. And that talent gap will only increase if companies ignore what matters to employees, especially as what matters continues to evolve.

But if companies use this as an opportunity to rethink how they support hourly employees, whether tuition support, competitive wages or new forms of flexibility, they can raise the bar to create a fairer playing field overall, including attracting more diverse talent that has traditionally shied away from roles in manufacturing operations because of caregiving demands at home. This gives companies a better shot at keeping employees, and employee’s better pathways for a rewarding career, even if the pathway is not always linear.

If manufacturing is the lifeblood of our economy and company, we need to keep manufacturing employees at the heart at every stage of their career journey – from attraction to development to retention.

It’s only when we invest in everyone that everyone can thrive.