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Why is Manufacturing Recruitment Tougher Than The Rest Of Industry?

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November 30,2022

When it comes to GDP share by industry, the manufacturing sector ranks second on the list with a contribution of more than 10.7%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are around 12 million manufacturing jobs in the United States alone. However, the U.S. has lost more than 5 Million manufacturing jobs in the last 25 years.

Clay, automobile, office furniture, and plywood industries will have to see the worst form of this decline in the manufacturing sector and will be the hardest-hit industries. Yet, despite the humongous job loss, manufacturing companies aren’t going to dissipate from the planet.

Although manufacturing jobs are not as sought after jobs as other employment, since they require less experience and skill, it is inundated with applications. And for employers in the manufacturing sector, it is necessary to understand the challenges, use a bespoke approach and work with a manufacturing recruitment services agency to overcome the hurdles.

The Challenges Of Recruitment For Manufacturing Industries

  • Unappealing Image Of The Manufacturing Industry

    In a survey conducted by Randstad, 45% of the respondents cited a negative perception of the manufacturing industry. This is an uneasy finding for the HR managers of this sector.


    It is the lack of social presence that further dampers the image of the manufacturing industry and it needs to be dealt with by working with the best manufacturing recruitment services agency.

  • Declining Interest Among Youngsters

    In the United States, people are losing interest in the manufacturing industry, mainly the younger generation. The younger generation is now seeing the manufacturing industry as boring, environmentally unsafe, and lacking creativity.


    Even the female workforce considers the manufacturing sector to be less appealing since the industry is predominantly male. .

  • Aging Workforce

    A vast majority of the current manufacturing workforce is aging and they are expected to soon retire from the industry. This casts new obstacles for the employers as they might have to deal with a slowdown in the available labor unless they start making sense to the younger candidates. Both training and upskilling need to be prioritized to deal with this issue.

  • Gap In Skill Set

    There are many manufacturing companies that have to deal with recruitment issues just because the new candidates lack the skill and expertise required to do the work they are applying for. However, the only way to overcome this issue is to focus on both upskilling and training as it will allow employers to hire younger candidates.

  • Lack Of Training & Experience

    The manufacturing sector is dealing with both the lack of experience and training in the talent market and that’s why many candidates are filtered out before they even reach the HR’s table for screening and shortlisting. Working with a manufacturing recruitment services agency can solve this issue to some extent.

How To Recruit Better For Manufacturing & Engineering Jobs?

  • Hire an RPO Firm

    An RPO firm with specialization in the manufacturing industry can help you overcome all the above-mentioned issues. They don’t only boost the speed of hiring but they even work on employer brand and improve hire quality through a consistent process. Just make sure to pick the right company offering manufacturing recruitment outsourcing services

  • Build A Strong Social Media Profile Displaying a Positive Company Image

    By using social media platforms for the recruitment process, you can-

    • Enhance job visibility

    • Improve brand image

    • Level up the quality of candidates

    • Reduce the cost to hire, and

    • Reduce average time to hire

    While using social media for recruitment, consider platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. 

  • Promote Employee Experience

    Before hiring employees for your company, you must be a new employee at some point. What were the obstacles you had to face during recruitment? How was your experience as a new candidate? Did you feel like a valuable employee?


    Look for legitimate answers to all the above-mentioned questions and work on the friction areas to determine how you can improve them.

  • Be Honest With Candidates & Make A Good First Professional Impression

    Both retention and recruitment are affected by the first impression of a manufacturing company and that’s why it needs to be precise and perfect. How do you present yourself in front of the candidates at the first meeting? What does the interview room look like? Do you follow up with candidates?


    It is necessary to address all the above-mentioned questions and make sure that you are making a great first impression.

  • Strengthen Your Word Of Mouth With Strong Reviews

    The cheapest and most effective way to fill your job application folder with quality candidates is to work on word of mouth with strong reviews. Word of mouth is considered trustworthy since instead of coming from the company, it comes from the employees who are already working in the company.

  • Offer Incentives For Better Retention

    You can craft and launch an employee referral incentive program as this improves the likelihood of your current employees referring friends and family members. These programs can be monetary or you can offer other benefits through these kinds of programs like vacation trips or customized gifts.


    Building an impeccable, productive, and ideal manufacturing workforce is proving to be challenging and the only way to overcome this challenge is to come up with great onboarding and recruiting strategies. And if you feel like your in-house recruitment team lacks the skill and experience to overcome the current manufacturing recruitment challenges, it’s time to switch to manufacturing recruitment outsourcing services from reputed companies like Collar Search.