The labor shortage in the food and beverage industry didn’t start with the pandemic (though increased demand for groceries certainly exacerbated it). The need for workers – from processing and packaging machine operators, to plant supervisors and managers, to data scientists – has been building for well over a decade. And it won’t end when the lingering impacts of the pandemic finally subside – the population continues to grow, and as we’re fond of saying in the business, “people will always need to eat.”
A good deal of time, energy, and money has been dedicated to figuring out what companies can do to attract and retain the workforce they need to meet the demands of the market. And the answer is that there’s not an easy answer. There’s no silver bullet that will make the problem go away – especially with the unemployment rate sitting at 3.7%.
But there are several ways companies can both close their existing talent gaps and put themselves into a better position for the future. The ones that succeed will be those that take a “yes, and” approach, combining short-, medium-, and long-term initiatives into what will eventually become a complete revamp of the way they source and retain talent.
The root of the problem: Perception
Manufacturing has a bad image among today’s workers. This has been the case for a while – younger people simply don’t see manufacturing as a viable career in the same way that their parents and grandparents did.
Here are just a few of the findings that reinforce this point:
- In 2009, 52% of teenagers had little or no interest in manufacturing, and the top reason was that they didn’t consider it a professional career. (Note: Those teenagers are in their late 20s or early 30s now, making them the ideal candidates to fill currently open manufacturing jobs.)
- Only about 27% of parents think manufacturing would be a good job for their kid.
- 58% of consumers feel manufacturing jobs have limited career prospects.
When you dig into the results of these and similar surveys, what you find is that people’s ideas about manufacturing don’t match the realities of today. Modern manufacturing is high-tech, involving automation, robotics, and other digital technologies. It also pays well – in Food Processing’s 2021 Salary and Job Satisfaction Survey, the average salary was almost $108,000.
But younger workers don’t know this – they still see manufacturing as a boring, repetitive job rather than an exciting, fulfilling career. (See this excellent article written by a high schooler on “Why Manufacturing’s Not Cool.”)
Deloitte has done a lot of research on what they call the “age-old perception challenge,” and they’ve identified three areas contributing to misperceptions about manufacturing:
- Limited public awareness of manufacturing career opportunities
- Rising competition for talent
- Changing workforce expectations
The solutions below will help you start to tackle the perception challenge within your own company. By taking these steps, you will not only make your business more competitive in the talent arena, but also help change the perception of the food and beverage industry as a whole.
Short-term solutions: What you can do to get talent through your door today
While there are no silver bullets for attracting workers, there is some low-hanging fruit. Here are four things you can tackle to get talent through your door today.
1. Revise your job descriptions
If your job descriptions look like they’re stuck in the 1950s, job seekers will think your company is as well. Indeed has found that 52% of job seekers say that the quality of a job description is very or extremely influential on their decision to apply for a job.
Here are five key elements that are often missing from job descriptions:
- A description of your company culture – 72% of job seekers say it’s very or extremely important to see details about company culture. This is a great opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers to highlight things that matter to younger workers, such as their use of technology, commitment to work-life balance, or diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
- Separate lists of must-haves and nice-to-haves – Many people won’t apply for a job if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements, so be sure to separate what’s truly required from what’s simply preferred.
- Salary range – Compensation is one of the most important parts of a job description according to job seekers, but many companies still don’t include this information. This is an opportunity for you to stand out from the crowd.
- Perks and benefits – Do you offer flexible work arrangements? Tuition reimbursement? Employee wellness programs? Highlight them! More than 8 in 10 job seekers say that perks and benefits have a significant impact on whether they will apply for a job.
- Paths to growth – This will help job seekers to view manufacturing as a career, not just a job.
2. Simplify your application process
We live in a world where people expect things to happen quickly. That includes applying for a job – according to CareerBuilder, 42% of job seekers will abandon an application that’s difficult or confusing, and 31% will abandon one that takes too long. Staffing industry thought leader Andre Mileti puts it like this: “If the job application process is not as easy as scrolling through Instagram, you will lose.”
How to simplify your application process:
- Make it mobile-friendly – More than 60% of job applications are done on mobile devices.
- Remove unnecessary steps – Do applicants have to create a user account on your system? Enter data that’s already on their resumes? Extra steps like these cause job seekers to quit the application process.
- Be upfront about timelines – Some things just take time, like background checks. By setting clear expectations about timelines, you can decrease the chances that people will look elsewhere during these stages of the process.
To determine sticking points in your application process, Karl Wierzbicki, vice president of marketing at user experience technology provider InFlight, recommends going through it yourself. “See how long it takes you. When you’re done, ask yourself how you felt about the experience. Then simplify the process, simplify account creation, and remove redundant and unneeded questions.”
3. Provide mentorship opportunities
Learning and development opportunities are important to younger workers. While it takes time to develop career training programs (more on this below), a mentoring program can be put in place more quickly. This will help workers succeed in your organization today and also grow their careers into the future, which will help with employee retention. In fact, 79% of Millennials view mentoring as critical for their career success.
These two resources will help guide you through creating a mentorship program:
- Creating a Workplace Mentoring Program: Key Steps and Tips [Indeed]
- How To Start A Mentoring Program [Together]
You can also connect with existing mentorship programs in the industry. For example, the Food Processing Suppliers Association’s Mentor Circle “provides all members an opportunity to become a mentor or work with a mentor to nurture personal and professional growth.”
4. Consider using contingent workers for project-based work
Did you know that you can hire mechanical engineers on Upwork? You can also hire food scientists, food safety specialists, packaging designers…and the list goes on.
In 2021, there were more than 50 million people working independently in the U.S. Many of these people are highly skilled in areas where food and beverage manufacturers need help, and you can find them on talent marketplaces like Upwork.
Look at your job openings and see if any of them could be replaced, even temporarily, with an independent contractor doing project-based work. There are also over 1,000 staffing and recruiting agencies that serve the food and beverage manufacturing industry who can help you fill these roles.
Medium-term solutions: How to make sure you can hire the talent you need six months from now
After taking steps to solve the immediate problem, you can start looking toward the future. These three solutions will help you start to adapt your organization to the ways people want to work today.
dia outlets including the BBC have pointed to a dearth of Dijon mustard, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which has also taken its toll on grain delivery, with production down around 40% and Russia suspending its participation in a UN-brokered deal to secure the export of Ukrainian grain out through the Black Sea.
And, as Christmas approaches, the UK government has sought to calm concerns over UK turkey supply after the National Farmers’ Union cited bird flu as a disruption risk this year.
The list goes on and, all in all, paints a pretty bleak picture. For UK food and drink manufacturers and retailers, finding new ingredients and finished goods suppliers under normal market circumstances can be an arduous task, leaving a lengthy trail of paperwork, but such volatile market conditions simply serve to exacerbate the whole process.
In a recent article in Food Manufacture, it was noted that data has become the hot commodity among supply chain managers, with technology to map and monitor the sourcing and movement of goods now “intrinsic in the optimal running of food and drink businesses”.
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A Multistage Approach to Solving the Labor Shortage in the F&B Industry
