The Challenges Facing North East Manufacturing

Attracting and retaining skilled workers, especially in roles like Maintenance, is a common challenge in many Manufacturing and Engineering companies globally. This challenge is not unique to North East, but can be influenced by regional factors. This seems to be both a consistent challenge in the region with factors such as skills, labour availability, salaries and opportunities.

Skills Gap and Training:

One of the most significant challenges is the existing skills gap in the workforce. As technology advances, manufacturing processes become more sophisticated, requiring workers with up-to-date skills. Ensuring that the local workforce is trained and skilled enough to meet these demands can be a hurdle. Companies might need to collaborate with local educational institutions and training centres to develop tailored training programs that address the specific needs of these roles. Additionally, companies may need to be flexible on experience and accept the quality of their initial training may actually be good enough to fulfil the role requirements. While experience is of course always desirable, in a skills shortage, it may not be essential.

Competition:

Manufacturing and engineering companies often face stiff competition from various sectors that also require skilled workers. Industries like IT, Finance, and Healthcare also seek similar skill sets, making it difficult to attract and retain qualified employees in the manufacturing sector. Additionally, the existing competition within Manufacturing and Engineering itself can lead to significant internal competition as top talent is often fought over. Some of our best candidates often end up in multiple processes at the same time and have to decide between 2-3 really strong offers.

Perception of Manufacturing Careers:

Many people might perceive manufacturing jobs as outdated, labour-intensive, and lacking in innovation. Changing this perception and highlighting the technology-driven, dynamic aspects of modern manufacturing can help attract more talent to the sector. Millennials, Generation X, Y, Z or whatever we are up to these days have different expectations from work than their parents and more experienced predecessors than the previous generation. The earning capability vs expectation may not be aligned to the type or nature of the work and the expected qualifications or skills.

Aging Workforce:

The manufacturing and engineering sector often has an aging workforce, and there is a need to attract younger generations to fill the gap left by retiring workers. Making these roles appealing to younger workers can be challenging due to some of the points mentioned. As well as a labour and skills gap, there is also a developing knowledge and experience gap that no amount of training can replace and the ability to pass this knowledge and experience down is not quite as clear cut as it may seem.

Work Environment and Culture:

A negative work environment, lack of work-life balance, or outdated facilities can deter skilled workers from joining or staying with a company. Manufacturing companies need to ensure that their work environments are safe, modern, and offer opportunities for career growth and development. Whilst salary is a key factor for most, a clear development and career pathway is increasingly important for retention. If candidates see a company or an industry as dead end, there is always another opportunity that presents this to tempt them away.

Salary and Benefits:

Attractive compensation packages play a crucial role in attracting and retaining skilled workers. If the compensation and benefits offered are not competitive compared to other sectors or regions, it can be difficult to retain top talent. It’s easy for me a recruiter, a commission-based salesman to say, you need to pay more, but it’s true to an extent. Money talks! So, if you can’t raise your salaries, what can you do to attract and retain? Do you have an award-winning culture, an excellent benefits package, work life balance, work environment…what is your USP beyond pay?

National and Global Mobility:

Skilled workers have the option to move to regions or countries with better opportunities, potentially leaving North East England to work elsewhere. This can impact the local talent pool and make it challenging for companies to retain skilled workers.

Investment in Technology:

Companies that invest in cutting-edge technology and automation might find it easier to attract skilled workers, as these technologies often require specialized skills to operate and maintain. Also, it could be more interesting and exciting for some to be dealing with the latest and greatest. With modern technology comes several advantages. Investment in the site and staff. Development of the teams and capabilities of the output and volume numbers. Training opportunities and upskilling the workforce. Innovation, CI and improvement of processes and methodologies to achieve higher standards, capabilities and excellences.

Networking and Collaboration:

Manufacturing and Engineering companies can benefit from establishing strong networks and collaborations with local educational institutions, training centres, and industry associations. These partnerships can help address the skills gaps by providing relevant training and connecting companies with potential talent. There is some excellent networks and Forums across the North East and companies are encouraged to tap into them to share knowledge but also experiences … the good and the bad.

To address these challenges, employers should work closely with local governments, educational institutions, and industry organizations to create strategies for attracting, training, and retaining skilled workers. Additionally, highlighting the sectors unique advantages and career opportunities could help improve the perception of manufacturing careers and specific opportunities among potential employees.

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Of course, partnering with a Specialist Outsourced People Services provider could solve a number of these issues. Jackson Hogg can provide a bespoke Recruitment Solution to meet your specific requirements. Taking a consultative approach, we don’t lecture, we advise on the best routes to resolve staffing and personnel issues. This could be finding, recruiting and attracting the best people through one of our dedicated Recruitment Experts or a structured Talent Partnership strategy. You may need to get the best out of your existing team and an in-depth analysis of your HR and People strategies is what you need through our Flexible HR Solutions. Or you may just want some market intel, know what your competitors are offering and some insight into the market. We can provide individual benchmarking and salary surveys through our expansive research and marketing capabilities.? Whatever it may be, Jackson Hogg is here.

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Why not get in touch and see how we can transform your headaches into solutions. https://www.jacksonhogg.com/

Andrew Lockey

UK Maintenance

07446156521 / [email protected]