Like many businesses, Canadian manufacturers are gearing up for the summer holidays. Vacation days and personal leaves during the summer can be tricky to balance, especially in an industry that requires specialized skills for operating machinery. Manufacturers face several risks if their hiring strategies fall through, including productivity slowdowns, missed deadlines, and overworking the employees that remain throughout the season.
The above is just an overview of the challenges manufacturers are overcoming by bringing on temporary employees through a staffing agency. Curious about why a temporary hiring strategy is serving the manufacturing industry so well? Read on for the three reasons driving manufacturers to use temporary employees.
1. The Gig Economy is Addressing an Unprecedented Talent Shortage
According to a recent study, there’s an unprecedented talent shortage in the Canadian manufacturing industry. Although 75% of manufacturers are expecting growth over the next three years, 86% of them are facing challenges related to lack of skills, training, and succession planning. The current generation of permanent employees is about to retire after all, which will leave the industry with 22% fewer workers.
What this all boils down to is that there’s a wide gap to be filled by manufacturing employers in a short amount of time. If this gap isn’t filled, many manufacturers will fail to keep up with increasing demands on the industry’s productivity levels.
Savvy manufacturers are tapping into the gig economy, which is booming right now with both recent grads from related programs and industry professionals looking for more flexible work. There’s more than enough skilled temporary employees to address the current talent shortage.
2. Unemployment is at an All-Time Low
While a low unemployment rate means a thriving Canadian economy, it also means there are fewer professional candidates available on the market for permanent hires. Manufacturers are often in need of light industrial workers, especially during the summer when production is at one of its highest peaks. The permanent hiring process also takes a longer time and more resources for manufacturers, who must ensure their workers are not only culturally fit for their positions but properly certified as well.
Temporary employees can be placed quickly, particularly if you work with a staffing agency that specializes in industrial hiring. Manufacturers need to scale up and down in an agile way, and temporary hiring affords them that advantage.
3. Worker Health and Safety is Assured
With the help of a staffing agency, manufacturers can rest easy regarding due diligence for worker health and safety. A staffing agency, like Liberty Staffing, provides employees with thorough worker health and safety training and information, following the Ontario Ministry of Labour legislations.
It is the employer’s, staffing agency’s, and worker’s responsibility to ensure that the workplace is safe, and that employees are knowledgeable of health and safety regulations. Once skilled temporary workers are knowledgeable about health and safety regulations, they will perform their tasks in a manner that lowers the risk of workplace-related injuries or accidents.
Current workers in manufacturing companies will also experience improved health and safety as a result of balancing the workload with temporary hiring. The more help you have, the easier it is to ensure work is distributed evenly across manufacturing positions. With the recent passing of Canada’s National Day of Mourning for workers lost or injured on the job, it’s important to remember that more occupational hazards are likely to occur when manufacturing employees are overworked.
Canada’s manufacturing industry benefits greatly from a temporary hiring strategy, as you can see from the three reasons discussed. The industry is only going to become more demanding as technology transforms nearly every sector. With the gig economy becoming the global norm, hiring temporary employees ensures that manufacturers stay competitive.
