Skilled Labor Shortage To-Do List

If you employ skilled labor and skilled trade professionals, you don’t need anyone to tell you there’s a shortage of candidates. You’ve likely been swapping experienced employees back and forth with your competitors routinely. It’s a miracle to be able to find and net new talent with the experience needed. My colleague Jessica Bartow and I recently gathered human resource professionals from agricultural employers in Tulare, California and surrounding areas to discuss the skilled trade shortage, and we identified five strategies they use to try and keep the candidates flowing.

The tactics below can serve as a quick checklist. If you are finding it challenging to attract people to your skilled positions, it’s time to ensure you’re developing programs like the ones below.

Skilled Labor To-Do List

1. Employee Referral Bonuses

2. Training Initiatives tied to Managers’ pay and intentional development paths for current employees to reduce turnover – develop a mentoring/buddy program

3. Tuition Reimbursement/Scholarships/apprenticeship programs to create a pipeline of fresh talent.

4. Offer flexible hours and create a strong and distinct culture

5. Local High School involvement and recruiting, including time set aside to bring in local teachers to shadow managers.

There’s not a magic bullet, but when you’re in the crisis mode of needing specific talent right away, it’s hard to take the time out to strategize and formulate an intentional plan. Some of these items can be immediate (employee referral bonus), while others take more preparation and buy-in (potential for flexible hours and intentional culture development). Making the time to create a new program or refresh one that lost momentum can give you the edge you need!

AgCareers.com is presenting a one-hour webinar on May 31, 2019 focused around the skilled labor recruitment issue entitled “Bridging the Skilled Trade & 2 Year Recruiting Conundrum.” Please consider joining us! You can register on AgCareers.com at this link.