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Tackling the Labor Shortage

Food and beverage manufacturers need to invest in creative recruitment and retention strategies that will win over the hearts and minds of the next generation of skilled workers.

worker at machine
Food and beverage manufacturers are implementing creative recruitment and retention strategies as the sector faces a labor shortage.

Food and beverage manufacturing is facing a workforce crisis. While the industry has bounced back from the Great Recession, it just can’t seem to find the skilled employees it needs to meet increasing production demands. As the labor pool shrinks and more open positions go unfilled, experts say manufacturers must think out of the box to recruit and retain the next generation of workers.   

In the last few years, the talent shortage has proven to be challenging for manufacturers, but it’s about to get much worse. According to the 2018 skills gap and workforce study from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, about 2.4 million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled between 2018 and 2028. In turn, $454 billion in manufacturing gross domestic product could be at risk in 2028, or more than $2.5 trillion over the next decade.

Many experts attribute the talent shortage to the public misperception of manufacturing. Although many food and beverage plants today have high-tech, cutting-edge equipment and processes in clean, bright environments, most people still view manufacturing as a sector with dead-end jobs in dark, dirty, run-down facilities.

“The food and beverage industry has not done a good job of publicizing itself as a fun, sexy job,” says David Bryant, president and CEO of The David Bryant Company, a consulting and recruitment firm in Gainesville, Georgia. “We need to build a [public relations] or communications campaign to the generation yet to come about this industry. We’re not building electric vehicles or traveling to Mars, but it offers a stable, feed-the-world job that’s going to have innovation.”

“There is real merit in getting people to understand that this isn’t yesterday’s manufacturing,” says Keith Barr, president and CEO of Leading2Lean, a Sparks, Nevada-based automation solutions supplier. “This is a very modern, sophisticated and challenging environment that you can find very fulfilling. We have the environment that’s going to challenge the next-generation workforce and the ability to satisfy the kinds of work requirements that they’re looking for.”

robot at Gateway Technical CollegeAs manufacturing plants become more automated, manufacturers should invest in training their employees. That can include sending them to trade schools like Gateway Technical College, which recently expanded its SC Johnson Integrated Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Center with advanced equipment and resources.Photo courtesy of Gateway Technical College.

Head of the class

To elevate and promote manufacturing as a viable career option with young people, many companies are partnering with schools and educational programs in their communities to fill the talent pipeline, according to the 2019 Education & Workforce Development Best Practices Report from PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. For example, some companies give tours of their facilities to children in elementary schools. Others distribute marketing materials to middle school and high school students that outline the career paths, salaries and qualifications for manufacturing jobs. At the high school level, manufacturers participate in career fairs, serve as guest lecturers, offer apprenticeship programs and even help develop manufacturing curricula to promote manufacturing as an alternative career path to a four-year degree program. Some manufacturers will even hire elementary and junior high school teachers for two weeks in the summer to change their perception of manufacturing and demonstrate practice applications of a STEM education. In addition, many companies still find the tried-and-true apprenticeship or internship programs at colleges and trade schools also very valuable. 

Even vocational schools recognize the importance of getting students interested in manufacturing at an early age as an effective recruitment tactic. For example, Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, works with local elementary schools to establish its Kids Labs program to teach students about manufacturing, engineering and technology. Gateway also helps junior high schools set up robotics programs. In addition, Gateway offers a dual-enrollment program that allows high school students to take courses in manufacturing, robotics and Internet of Things for free and transfer that credit toward their degrees if they enroll in Gateway.

“Those pipeline strategies create the awareness, the visibility and the career paths that have led to increased enrollment for manufacturing degrees at Gateway,” says Bryan Albrecht, president and CEO of Gateway. “This year, we saw a 6 percent enrollment increase in manufacturing careers.”

Expanding the talent pool

Another recruitment strategy is to tap into certain demographics that may be overlooked. While many manufacturers target high school and college students, the PMMI report suggests aiming for women to enhance diversity in the sector. “Women only make up 29 percent of the manufacturing workforce. That’s a group that’s under-represented,” says Stephan Girard, senior director of workforce development at PMMI.

The PMMI report also recommends recruiting transitioning military veterans. Experts recommend that companies reach out to local veteran affairs departments, nonprofits that help military veterans develop job skills and local military bases. “They have those soft skills of strength of character, work ethic and integrity, foremost,” Bryant says.

Another source of talent are immigrants and refugees, who are eager to work and settle into their new lives in America. Campbell Soup Company works with Catholic Charities to recruit these new arrivals to the country. The nonprofit identifies candidates, guides them through the hiring process and helps them adjust to the work culture at the plants. “That relationship has been a really good partnership,” says Brittany Morris, director of human resources for Campbell Snacks Manufacturing and Logistics. “They are very proactive with us and ensure the candidates are well-prepared and that we’re all on the same page. They keep a close connection with them even after we bring them on and hire.”

Gateway recommends hiring formerly incarcerated individuals. Working with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Gateway teaches prison inmates manufacturing skills at their correctional facilities or at the trade school. “As they transition back into the community, they have high skills, and jobs are waiting for them,” Albrecht says. “It’s helped with the recidivism rate.”

INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Food Products at PACK EXPO Southeast
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INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Food Products at PACK EXPO Southeast