Manufacturers must do more to attract a diverse workforce
Lee Collinson
Managing Director -National Head of Manufacturing,Transport & Logistics at Barclays
Throughout the sector, at all levels, it is well documented that there is a shortage of qualified engineers and technically qualified manufacturing employees.?With the average age of the workforce increasing, Make UK data shows that 46% of employees are between 41 and 50 years old, of which 24% are c. 45-50 (*1). Alongside this, in the last 15-20 years, fewer young people have taken apprenticeships and relevant training to provide the pipeline of experience needed to replace this aging cohort.
Now more than ever, manufacturing and engineering jobs face competition from other sectors with their own labour deficits: especially within the computer programming, construction and energy sectors. Energy alone is expected to need 400,000 roles by 2050, another 260,000 engineering workers, meaning an additional 10,000 per year, far more than are being trained today (*6).
What attracts job seekers?
Better pay and benefits is almost always the most effective lever to attract job seekers. Faced with record inflation, manufacturers find raising wages very difficult but ultimately the job market dictates pay rates and companies have little choice. But, in such a tight labour market, pay is not enough. “Many people want a career structure which allows them to develop and progress, their achievements to be recognised, and to work in a decent environment where they feel respected and valued”, says Helen Kidd, a partner at Irwin Mitchell LLP.
To access a bigger labour pool, manufacturing companies need to reach more women and ethnic minority candidates. Women represent just 29% of the manufacturing workforce, according to Make UK (*1). And women make up just 16.5% of all engineers, although this is up 6% on 2010, according to 2022 research by Engineering UK (*2). For ethnicity only 4.9% of black workers are employed in manufacturing – the second lowest percentage of all ethnic groups in this sector after ‘Other Asian’ (non-Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi) (*5). About 6.5% of all Asian ethnic groups work in manufacturing, proportionately smaller than their population in England and Wales (about 9.3% of the total population) (*4). Only 4% of all apprenticeships are taken by ethnic minority groups (*1).
Approaches firms are taking to recruit
?In terms of benefits, Irwin Mitchell sees five trends that can make a difference.
?1.????Alternative work patterns and flexibility, with some manufacturers trialing a four-day week and/or allowing staff to work compressed hours.
2.????Paying one off cost of living bonuses: Manufacturers may not be able to commit to making pay rises across the board but may be in a position to make a one-off cost of living bonus to support their employees and help them feel valued.
3.????Publicising the benefits they already provide that staff may have forgotten: Examples include free or discounted prescription glasses or eye tests, healthcare, cycle to work scheme, assistance with travel costs and mental wellbeing support.?
4.????Additional holiday or allowing staff to buy extra holiday: Some companies give their employees an extra day or two’s leave to help them to focus on their wellbeing, and/or allow them to buy additional holiday, (usually up to an additional week).
5.????Providing healthcare benefits: A very popular benefit is occupational sick pay, access to a private GP service and providing health insurance which allows workers to obtain treatment outside of the NHS.
?Employee ownership (EO) is also an incentive for workers. Some schemes allow employees to buy shares that gain in value as the company grows, which also buys loyalty (shares can’t be kept when staff leave). The UK EO sector has doubled since 2020, and manufacturing is the third biggest sector by size and conversions, according to the Employee Ownership Association. About 13% of all EO companies are in manufacturing (*7).
?Diversity: growing in importance but still challenging to meet
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Much work has been done in manufacturing and engineering to encourage more women into the sector.
The list of bodies supporting this push is long. As mentioned above women make up?16.5%?of all engineers. The actual number of women working in engineering roles increased from 562,000 in 2010 to?936,000?in 2021 (*3). And tellingly the increase in the number of women in engineering roles continued to rise even when the total number of people working in engineering fell in 2020 and 2021 during the covid-19 pandemic (*3).
But the survey also found that women qualified to work in core engineering were more likely than men to work outside of the engineering sector. And for those working in core engineering roles some sectors, such as water and waste management, were far more popular than construction engineering, for example.
The Make UK inclusion report says that “diverse and inclusive teams – if well managed – have a broader range of knowledge and skills; are better at identifying and solving problems that others may overlook; and gain a competitive edge in accessing new markets and higher market share”.(*1). It also revealed that 36% of manufacturers already have an Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) strategy and a further 31% are currently developing one or planning to, but overall at that time, 47% of manufacturers are not assessing the status of EDI in their business.
Attracting a more diverse workforce is a long term goal. “Manufacturers need to put in place a framework which includes training to help people overcome prejudice, bias (including unconscious bias) and to change entrenched negative attitudes,” says Helen Kidd. “This will involve reviewing employment policies and practices and making changes to ensure that the business attracts a wide range of people – that might include changing the way job roles are described or making it clear that the business welcomes applications from certain under-represented groups.”
I’d be interested in hearing your views or do get in touch if you would like to discuss anything further.
?Sources?:
?6.?????https://www.engineeringuk.com/blog/do-we-have-the-stem-workforce-in-place-to-deliver-net-zero/
?7.?????https://employeeownership.co.uk/resources/what-the-evidence-tells-us/
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1 年This is so important