As the economy has slowed down in attempt to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the UK, this has severely impacted manufacturing output.
These effects have been felt across almost all manufacturing sectors, except from food production and pharmaceuticals. The automotive manufacturing industry is said to have been hit hardest by this outbreak.
Although most manufacturing sectors have had to reduce their output, the demand for food, medicines, ventilators and PPE has massively increased. UK manufacturers which specialise in other sectors are also changing their production as part of a “wartime” effort to build thousands of medical supplies. For production-related environments including engineering and pharmaceutical, there is a significant increase in recruitment requirements to help with production demand and staff shortages caused by illness and self-isolation periods.
With the expectation that there are likely to be staff and skill shortages, now is the time for businesses to assess recruitment strategies, as an increase in temporary staff may be appropriate to help reach this demand. On average, a talent pipeline takes 2-4 months to mature. This means that if you put recruitment on hold, what could be a three-month issue, may turn into an issue for over twelve months. Planning ahead is now more important than ever. Now is a great time to start working on your strategy, to clearly establish anticipated gaps in your business.
Whilst recruitment is far more effective face-to face, given the current situation, communicating using video calls has proven to be the best way to communicate and engage with potential candidates online. Video calls and online meetings are the best way to find the right fit for your business during covid-19. Likewise, for new employees, instead of handling your onboarding at your office, you should create online pre-onboarding process for your new employees. Where possible, gather the materials which your new employee would receive on their first day and make them available digitally.
As key workers, the manufacturing industry is working tirelessly to keep the UK running. For what was almost a forgotten industry in the UK, manufacturing and engineering has proven how vital our workers are to our economy and what a brilliant career choice it is.
If you’re looking for to build a recruitment strategy, hire temporary staff, or need support with talent pipelining and training obstacles, get in touch with a member of our team today, for a free consultation.
If you’re out of work or a current contractor and have the skill set or experience for a role in manufacturing, upload your CV today to find out more about nationwide roles with Synergi.
