CEOs from member companies provided their insights on expectations for talent recruitment and retention trends for 2022.
Key findings:
- Most companies believe their talent strategy is working—Company culture, understanding of the current talent environment, and acting on attracting and retaining talent are seen as their strongest successes.
- Talent availability continues to be a top concern—Between the limited number of skilled workers available and the need to keep competitive with regard to wages, benefits, and flexibility, many manufacturers are facing challenges.
- Primary concerns of those looking for work within manufacturing appears to be well understood—68% of manufacturers believe that growth opportunities and career progression are primary drivers for current job seekers. 55% also find hybrid or fully remote work to be of major importance.
- Equity of work practices still faces a few challenges—Flexibility, communication, and consistency (where possible) appear to be important tools in addressing perceived inequity.
- Communication leads the day when discussing automation—Communicating the ways in which automation leads to gaining new skills, and providing the training for those skills, has improved workforce acceptance of automation.
