During our 30+years of cross-industry experience we have found that once unemployment drops below 6%, companies find it hard to staff adequately to meet production demands. At the current 3.6% unemployment rate [1] a labor shortage is the single biggest production problem many companies are facing. For as many as eleven states, unemployment falls to between 2.3% and 2.9%.[2] What this means, is that almost everyone who wants a job has a job. No wonder, if you ask any production or human resource manager: βWhat was the biggest challenge last year?β they will almost certainly give some version of βItβs becoming harder and harder to find employees in this ever-increasingly tight labor market.β They are most likely fighting this battle on two fronts:
(1) Getting quality employees to join their company
(2) Keeping those employees satisfied enough to keep them from leaving.
When it comes to attracting quality employees, the beginning of the year, however, represents an opportunity to jump-start your hiring efforts to hire quality employees β without βpoachingβ from the company down the street. According to the BLS, more than 600,000 temporary jobs were added for the holidays nationwide in 2018. Most of these new hires were let go by February of 2019. Given this seasonal pattern for the new year, we can expect that there are going to be a lot of people looking for work this January and February. Keep this in mind as it may be a good idea to strike while the iron is hot.
When it comes to keeping quality employees, it is always preferred to keep them rather than trying to constantly replace them. When you slow down turnover, you immediately take a huge burden off of your recruiting and training efforts.
How to do that? Here are some insights for a shift work environment:
- Why Your 12-hour Schedule is More Attractive than You Think?
- What is important about work-life balance?
- What do you need to know about overtime?
- 12 Unexpected Insights: do you know what you donβt know?
- Why should you consider changing your shift schedule?
Our experts at Shiftwork Solutions have looked at the reasons why employees leave companies, such as inclusiveness, work-life balance. Their workforce survey is an integral part of their solutions which leads to happier employees who feel valued and are instrumental in delivering on growth targets.
Give us a call at (415) 858-8585 and talk to an expert for free. We can help you to succeed.
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Footnotes:
[1] Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), January 1, 2020
[2] Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) January 1, 2020