4 Key Tips for Companies With Labor Shortage Problems
The labor shortage is real and causing serious problems in industries across the board. One study found that 87 percent of businesses were struggling to find qualified workers. Another study estimates companies in all American states will suffer significant shortages of skilled workers by 2029.
The reason behind this shortage is a combination of things. Even before the pandemic, many people struggled to make ends meet in low-wage positions. It’s hard to dedicate effort to acquiring new business skills when worrying about putting food on the table.
However, the good news for businesses is that there are ways you can work to solve this labor shortage problem. Continue reading below for four key tips in helping your company bring in employees.
1. Train Existing Employees To Fill Gaps
Try offering additional training to existing employees to help fill gaps. You could provide in-house training or offer incentives for further education. For example, you could offer to pay a percentage of tuition for employees who go back to college or trade school.
With existing employees moving up the company chain, positions that are easier to fill open up. When you train and promote a customer sales representative to a floor manager, for example. While the floor manager position was difficult to fill, finding another customer service rep is significantly easier.
2. Consider Other Uses for Worker’s Skill Sets
Even Suzanne Clark urges companies to find new ways to deal with labor shortage problems. One way many haven’t thought about is considering other uses for worker’s current skill sets.
Consider an applicant who has an extensive background in sales. It wouldn’t be difficult to apply this background to a position in the marketing department. Getting creative with requirements on skill sets could help fill many potential gaps within your company.
3. Partner With Local Educational Facilities
Consider partnering with local educational facilities for internships, apprenticeships, and co-op work placements. This would do more than fill labor shortage gaps. It would also offer the next workforce generation an opportunity to hone their new skills in a real work environment.
Reach out to relevant educational facilities within a certain radius of your physical work location. These facilities may be trade schools, small certification courses, colleges, or universities. Your local health department or unemployment office may offer work training, too.
4. Consider Freelancers
More people than ever have dived into the world of freelancing and working from home. For some, health-related fears have kept them at home. For others, the freedom of freelancing is too big of a draw to let go of.
Your business can tap into this growing workforce for many positions. A few examples of roles you can hire freelancers for include IT, marketing, telesales, and HR. There may be other positions your company could fill with freelancers, and these freelancers could end up as full-time remote workers down the line.
More Questions About Dealing With Labor Shortage Problems?
Labor shortage problems are real and are making impacts across industries. You can use the four key tips above to help fill gaps in your company.
Do you have more questions about dealing with labor shortage problems?
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