Finding Skilled Labor Cited as No. 1 In-plant Hiring Challenge, New IPI Survey Finds

To run an in-plant, you need people, but in-plants often have more work to manage than staff available to handle it.

Plus, the ambition to better serve their parent organization motivates managers to upgrade their services and add new offerings, which often requires more human effort.

So, In-plant Impressions conducted a survey to find out exactly what staffing challenges are most prevalent, and how the most successful shops are managing their people.

Overall, many in-plants highlight the role financial incentives — such as compensation and benefits — play in finding and retaining top talent. While in-plant managers acknowledge the wage difference between jobs at their shops and in the private sector, they also suggest employees at in-plants may be promoted more quickly and have greater job security.

Some of the other key findings include:

• Staffing shortages remain common, with more than a quarter (29%) of in-plants reporting they had open positions to fill.
• Finding skilled labor is the top hiring challenge — reported by 77% of managers — and often compounded by candidates’ higher pay expectations.
• Staffing vacancies have ripple effects, increasing employee workloads and negatively impacting turnaround times, overtime, and production quality.

Download the exclusive “In-plant Staffing Practices and Trends” report to learn more about how your in-plant can strengthen your workforce and your capabilities.