October 1, 2024 Driving Employee Retention in 2024

87% of manufacturing employees report benefits to be as important as salary in recent Purchasing Power eBook.

By Assad Lazarus, Chief Commercial Officer at Purchasing Power

After a period of retrenching in the manufacturing industry due to globalization and mounting cost pressures, the sector is now amid a healthy resurgence. Despite this recent, rapid growth in the United States, Deloitte’s 2023 Manufacturing Industry Outlook estimates that 800,000 manufacturing positions need to be filled. Furthermore, the same report revealed three-in-four manufacturers are having trouble finding and retaining the right talent while 51% are struggling to maintain competitive wage and benefits packages.

The National Association of Manufacturers Q2 2023 Manufacturers’ Outlook survey confirmed these concerns, with nearly 75% of manufacturing respondents citing talent recruitment and retention strategies as a top struggle.

To better understand the overall sentiments in the manufacturing industry, Purchasing Power recently surveyed over 500 manufacturing employees regarding their roles, overall industry, employee benefits and financial wellness. The key findings are summarized in the 2024 Manufacturing Financial Wellness eBook.

The findings identified that the key to a successful talent recruitment and retention strategy goes far beyond compensation and anchors on a comprehensive benefits program fit for your employees and their current stressors.

From voluntary benefits to professional development initiatives, employers have an opportunity to expand and enrich their current talent strategies and their employees’ well-being.

Understand How Manufacturing Employees Are Feeling

Despite the recent shifts to the manufacturing industry, employee sentiments are high. In fact, Purchasing Power’s findings in the e-book reveal manufacturing remains the industry of choice for most respondents, with 70% committed to pursuing work in the field.

However, employees are aware of and feel the impact of the labor shortage. Specifically, 68% of respondents feel their skills are in high demand in the workplace and 60% have found themselves working additional hours each week. While this allows some employees to clock overtime pay (45%), resulting in a bigger paycheck, it has negative repercussions on 40% of employees’ lives outside of work. Although most say it impacts them emotionally (65%), many also denoted the physical (59%), mental (57%) and financial (50%) toll.

While it’s not an employee’s sole responsibility to relieve employee stress, listening to and responding to workplace sentiments offers manufacturers a unique opportunity to stand out amongst the crowd of competing employers.

Meet Employees Where They Are with Voluntary Benefits

One way employers can respond to employee sentiments is by implementing more robust benefits packages. Manufacturing employees indicated the significance of benefits in the 2024 Manufacturing Financial Wellness eBook – as 87% said benefits were just as important to them as salary.

Employees showed a particularly high interest in voluntary benefits. Respondents indicated that voluntary benefits, including employee purchasing programs (35%), medical deductible financing (34%), bill payment programs (29%) and low-interest installment loans (27%) would increase their likelihood of staying with an employer.

However, almost half (43%) of the respondents said their current compensation package lacked any option in the voluntary benefits category, presenting a major opportunity for manufacturers.

One common entry point for employers is offering financing and loan programs. These types of voluntary benefits were in high demand amongst respondents and could help combat rising costs of goods during this time of post-pandemic uncertainty.

Leverage Professional Development Opportunities to Stand Out

Per the e-book, beyond salary and benefits, manufacturing employers are eager to uplevel their skills and take advantage of programs and resources provided by their employer. Many respondents showed an interest in gaining more skills in manufacturing-specific competencies such as forklift training, management of CNC machines, ISO quality and higher-end licenses. Further, many also indicated a desire to grow skills in technology-oriented areas like data analytics, supply chain, digital operations, automation, robotics and even softer managerial skills.

When it comes to upskilling, 60% of Purchasing Power’s respondents said their employer encourages or requires them to complete additional certifications. However, only 13% of respondents confirmed they received additional compensation for completing these training programs, suggesting that ongoing training is considered a job requirement and not necessarily viewed as a benefit.

Moving forward, this opens a door for employers to leverage their professional development opportunities as a competitive advantage for their firm.

Listen and Take Action

As the manufacturing industry undergoes a rapid period of growth and the labor shortage worsens, it’s important to reevaluate your current talent recruitment and retention strategies. By continuing to listen to your employees and their sentiments, as outlined in Purchasing Power’s findings, you can identify additional opportunities to further strengthen your company’s talent strategies. From voluntary benefits to professional development opportunities, there are plenty of ways to positively impact the lives of your employees.

About the Author:
Assad Lazarus is Chief Commercial Officer at Purchasing Power®. He is responsible for leading Purchasing Power’s public sector vertical and spearheading strategic business development efforts to drive growth-oriented partnerships across the company.

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