Over the past few years, there has been a remarkable resurgence of manufacturing in the United States. Illinois in particular has experienced a great deal of growth, making manufacturing Illinois’ largest industry. This growth brings positive impacts such as having a higher economic contribution to our state and the fact that manufacturing continues to generate various job opportunities.

This is an original article from the NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog.

Is your organization, like so many others today, struggling to recruit and retain a well-qualified and high-performing workforce? Are your workers excited to be a part of your team and motivated to serve your customers? Do they care for one another and the success of your business?

As employers continue to grapple with the talent shortage, some manufacturers are having success hiring more non-traditional candidates and using innovative and inclusive methods in their recruitment.  Non-traditional candidates are people with relevant skills who may not meet traditional job requirements. Education and experience are often overlooked and maybe even excluded when sorting through resumes or applications. This could include the neurodivergent community, justice-impacted or returning citizens, people with disabilities, youth between 18-24 who didn’t go to college, limited English speakers, and others.

If we have a lost cost in our business of $100,000, $500,000 or $1,000,000 would you know about it? Should you know about it? Would you take action to reduce the lost cost?

What is the actual cost of turnover for your business?
Unfortunately, well over 90% of companies do not capture this true cost or know how to calculate it specifically for their company. To get a total annual cost, one must look at the cost per person multiplied by the number of employees lost in a year.

IMEC believes building quality, customizable training programs, and defining career pathways are the solutions to manufacturing workforce challenges of shortages of skilled workers, retiring workforce, and meeting the needs of innovative technologies that the current skills don’t quite match. The new Career Pathways in Manufacturing program aids companies in recruiting, succession planning, and developing the workforce of the future with skills training in high-demand technical areas.

Recruiting and hiring new employees is costly and time-consuming. It has been noted, an average organization loses anywhere between 1% and 2.5% of revenue on the time it takes to onboard and orientate a new hire to their position. And manufacturing organizations are experiencing a steady decline in hiring.

This is an original article from the NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog.

Up and down busy streets nationwide, the same six-word banners stand outside in front of hundreds of businesses. Affixed to poles on front lawns or hanging above entrance doors, these inescapable banners, while the numbers may vary, almost always have the same wording:

Part 1 to this blog discussed the importance of incorporating ESG into your business strategy for stakeholders including customers, employees, and investors. In this follow up, you will learn how and why ESG evolved from its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) origins, transcending the latter’s internal perspective with an outward-facing regimen of objective, measurable, stipulated standards to validate and verify reductions in impacts such as carbon footprint/output.

Many manufacturers continue to face challenges in their quest to recruit employees. If you are struggling with acquiring talent, consider doing more to attract mid-career workers – individuals in their thirties, forties and fifties who seek new employment opportunities. Armed with experience and skills acquired during years of working, they can be hired to fill critical roles and help propel your company forward.

Here are some helpful tips:

Local and regional colleges are terrific places for recruiting entry-level talent. Here are nine tips for getting the most out of your college recruitment program.

1. Work on Recruitment All Year
College students begin looking for internships and jobs long before they graduate. Therefore, it’s important to form strong relationships year-round through a variety of tactics.