Recruitment Challenges and Shifting Priorities

Our research also revealed how manufacturers are continuing to struggle against a challenging recruitment landscape. Our survey found that 55% of survey respondents have seen their recruitment efforts “extremely” or “highly” impacted in recent times, a 9% increase from last year. 

Meanwhile, recruiting/retaining skilled staff is the biggest obstacle faced by manufacturers when it comes to achieving their business goals over the next 12-24 months. Furthermore, when asked to assess their recruitment and retention agility, only a third (33%) of manufacturers said they were “highly” or “extremely” agile, leaving 67% who doubt their recruitment agility.

At a time when the latest Office for National Statistics figures show that there are 91,000 vacant manufacturing jobs in the UK, attraction and retention must be key focuses for the industry. It became evident from our follow-up discussions that the recruitment challenge is one that is impacting manufacturers of all sizes and in every industry vertical. Furthermore, a couple of common themes seem to be apparent: labour is increasingly hard to source and workers’ priorities have shifted. “During the pandemic, we witnessed many foreign nationals return to their home countries. At the time, this was understandable. But the problem now is many cannot secure visas to return to the UK.

“These are the people we rely on and are struggling massively to replace”, said the CEO of a UK-based heavy engineering firm. He cited not being able to compete with larger firms on pay as an “insurmountable
barrier” to securing the right talent.

A Board Member at a global automotive manufacturer told us a similar story. “Recruitment is taking up vast amounts of our management team’s time. There just doesn’t seem to be enough of the right people in the labour pool at the moment”, he said. Interestingly, though, the same executive explained how they are hearing and witnessing similar across Europe, indicating that the labour and recruitment challenges are not necessarily Brexit-related. This is a theme reiterated by several other manufacturers we spoke with.

It seems that the pandemic has had a noticeable impact when it comes to workers’ priorities, which have shifted significantly over the last two years. “What we’ve seen is many of our older workers, having experienced totally new working arrangements during the pandemic, now looking to continue along that track.

As a result, some have taken early retirement. Meanwhile, many of our younger workers have left and switched to roles that enable them to take advantage of remote working – even if it meant leaving the manufacturing industry,” one engineering firm CEO told us.

The theme of workers’ priorities shifting extends across the board. It has caused all of the manufacturers we spoke with to re-evaluate and adapt their offerings to be seen as more attractive in the eyes of potential talent. For one UK-based steel contractor, the “local” job pool has dried up as individuals seek roles that they can perform remotely. “Employees expect more flexibility and have realised they can be recruited for a flexible job anywhere in the country. This has had an impact on the availability of local candidates, which we’ve seen dwindle significantly.

“As we are not in a position to offer remote working, we have had to add to our attractiveness as an employer by offering flexible working arrangements where possible”, the firm’s Engineering Director explained. Obviously, while some manufacturers can offer flexible working, others simply can’t. To compete, these firms are having to look at different ways to attract talent, including financial incentives.

“We’ve increased our pay rates three times now and while it has helped attract people, many still want perks that we simply can’t offer, like home working”, one Operations Director said. “We’ve also added a night shift premium to boost the appeal of our overnight operations. Fortunately, we’ve been able to pass these costs on to our customers, without any issues”, he added.

Other firms have shifted their own focus when it comes to candidates in an attempt to secure talent. Whereas historically they would have set their sights on recent graduates to fill their skilled positions, now, they are focusing on first recruiting individuals with the right attitude and then training them to the level they need them to be.

As the Manufacturing Director at a large food and beverage company told us: “We’ve reviewed our entry requirements to make recruitment happen, making sure we’re not solely focused on academic qualifications when considering candidates, but also their wider potential and other capabilities and attitude. In fact, 80% of employees on our career builder programme have not formally studied since leaving compulsory education”.

The gravity of the situation was summed up by the Chief of Digital Manufacturing at a global aerospace and defence firm: “We are seeing significant shortages in talent in every area from shop floor operators to highly technical roles. “Investing in future skills is going to be our next challenge beyond the recruitment challenges. It is important to strategically plan for the changes in technology and business models from a skills perspective