🔒Finding Talent: Amid worker shortage, manufacturers think outside the box to lure new hires

Area manufacturers say they are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to finding talent to run their companies.

As Connecticut's manufacturing workforce shoulders the strain of an ongoing retirement wave and lagging output of newly-trained job candidates, some employers say they’ve had to get creative to track down new hires.

“Try anything and everything is my motto because it really depends on the position,” said Jill Mayer, CEO of Milford-based Bead Industries, a global manufacturer of electronic contact pins and supplier of bead chains.

From utilizing temp agencies and recruiters to leveraging relationships with local schools and training programs, manufacturers along with various state actors are focused on addressing Connecticut's ongoing demand for skilled labor.

Being flexible and prepared to adapt to the ebb and flow of different hiring methods is a critical component for manufacturers looking to hire people, according to Mayer, who is also president of Manufacture CT — formerly the New Haven Manufacturers Association.

The organization is one of several regional industry groups offering resources and advocacy to local manufacturing companies.

“There is no one size fits all, and I get the sense that companies are looking for [that] and you just have to try different things,” Mayer said.

Companies should manage expectations as they look to replace workers retiring from long-standing careers.

“You’re not going to get someone you can just plug and play,” she continued. “We are coming off a generation that stayed in jobs for 20 to 40 years, and we are hiring people that don’t stay that long. I feel like people are hiring for life because that's what they used to hire for and they need to hire for now and evolve.”

Mayer said Bead Industries has revamped outdated job descriptions for positions vacated by retirees, in some cases shifting certain responsibilities to make it easier to find new hires, and implemented growth development plans for workers so they have a better path toward advancement and higher compensation.

“It’s allowed us to incentivize people to grow, and it’s helped prepare us for retirements,” she said.

Leveraging schools

It should come as no surprise that the future of the state’s manufacturing workforce resides in classrooms throughout Connecticut, but some companies are frustrated by gaps in training for candidates.

Open collaboration with local schools and training programs have been successful for savvy companies looking to find skilled talent.

“It’s really easy to sit in your shop and complain that there are workforce issues, but it’s really up to us as manufacturers and the end-user of all these products [to focus on] workforce development,” said Charles Daniels, chief financial officer of Middlefield-based plastic molds manufacturer Wepco Plastics.

Wepco has spent the past several years building a pipeline of talent from local K-12 schools. The company offers student tours and mentoring opportunities, externship programs for teachers and school counselors, and advises on curriculum needs.

The company has added four new employees in the past two months and has two open positions, he added.

“It’s really important for us to be a part of the process and to let people into our doors and see what we do on a day-to-day basis,” Daniels said, adding that Wepco currently has three employees who came from local high schools they’ve partnered with.

Internal and external leads

With roughly 260 employees in Bethany, Laticrete International Inc. has gotten creative with its approach to finding new talent, including leaning on existing workers for leads.

“That helps us a good deal with the lower-level positions in our plant,” said Kim Giagrande, vice president of human resources at the green flooring and facade materials manufacturer.

Laticrete offers a variety of payouts for referrals that become new hires.

After four months of employment, the company pays the referring employee a bonus of $1,000 for entry-level roles, $1,500 for manager-level roles, and $3,000 for director-level roles and above, according to Giagrande.

“It’s definitely more successful than just posting jobs and hoping to get good candidates,” she said adding that it has helped the company fill lower-level positions.

“If you think about it for any of those roles we’d be paying 30 percent if it was a recruiter,” she continued. “This is still a remarkable savings and you are getting talent that you have some type of connection to.”

Depending on the roles they’ve sought after, Milford-based Q-Tran has found talent from several external sources, including companies impacted by the pandemic.

The lighting manufacturer has used talent agencies and online job boards to fill entry-level and production positions, but it has tracked down more skilled talent with the help of retained search firms that focus on specialized roles.

“We’ve been able to find some really good people through executive searches who were from aerospace companies,” said Q-Tran co-CEO Jim Binch, adding that the company was able to bolster its ranks with workers who were laid off or furloughed by other aerospace manufacturers.

A statewide approach

In recent years there’s been increasing collaboration around workforce development between stakeholders across the state to bolster the manufacturing sector.

“Everywhere you look there is a shortage of skilled labor and if we can crack the code here in Connecticut, that will give us tremendous competitive advantage relative to other states and regions,” said Colin Cooper, the state’s chief manufacturing officer.

The state had just over 161,000 people working in manufacturing prior to the pandemic, with demand for thousands of new hires at the time due to the aging workforce.

While there isn’t a blanket method to tracking down talent, regional industry groups have been experimenting with various programs designed to provide candidates with foundational skills needed to enter the field.

The Workforce Alliance, for example, recently announced registration is now open for the next series of its “Skill Up for Manufacturing” program. The free, five-week pre-apprentice training program was created to expand the state’s manufacturing workforce pipeline, said Workforce Alliance CEO Bill Villano.

“Companies are certainly looking for people to have the basics,” he continued, adding that employers want candidates to be adept at hard skills like blueprint reading, shop math, safety regulations, and the fundamentals of using various machines.

Meantime, Gov. Ned Lamont recently introduced legislation to help improve Connecticut’s workforce by developing and investing in short-term training programs, increasing access to postsecondary education, enhancing workforce data-collection efforts, and codifying a new state office focused on workforce development.

“Our goal is really to build upon the great work that has already been done and to continue to ensure that work is expanded and pushed forward in a really mindful effort,” said Kelli-Marie Vallieres, executive director of the state’s Office of Workforce Strategy and co-chair of the Governor's Workforce Council.

She encourages companies to reach out to their regional manufacturing associations and become part of sector-based partnerships.

“That’s a really good place to look for talent,” Vallieres said.