IF YOU SOURCE TALENT FOR INDUSTRIAL WORK SITES AND FACTORIES, YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND QUALITY SKILLED WORKERS…

The skilled trades industry is saturated with companies similar to yours that are looking for the same quality talent YOU need. Relying on traditional recruitment processes simply won’t cut it. HR directors, recruiters, and staffing directors alike… are you struggling to find the talent your company needs to grow? If so, you’ll need to explore unique pools of talent that other employers are not tapping into.

The team at CraftForce has identified the following three demographics as majorly overlooked talent pools: 

1. High-school graduates
2. Recently laid-off skilled tradespeople
3. Returning veterans

Check out the following suggestions on recruiting from these demographics. Leave us a comment… How is your company faring in the labor shortage? Have you tried out any of these tactics in building your skilled workforce? Do you face any particular struggles that these tactics don’t address?

It is no news that college tuition prices are soaring at an unprecedented rate. High school graduates face tremendous stress in deciding whether the promise of a higher income is worth soul-crushing debt . Fortunately, there is a less costly and appealing alternative: a career in the trades. Unfortunately, this alternative is not voiced in our nation’s dialogue on career options. Our youth is all but unaware of the option to pursue a vocation, bombarded by a misconception that  a 4 year degree is the only viable career path.

As experts in our industry are well aware, the fact of the matter is that work in the skilled trades is rewarding, challenging, and pays well. Consider the high cost of a college degree and the two extra years not earning income. Skilled tradesmen will often enter the workforce $140,000 ahead of college graduates.  

This is where you come in. Recruit for a strong skilled workforce early, targeting high schoolers who are exploring career paths. Be sure to communicate the sense of fulfillment that comes with a career in the trades. Here are some ways in which your can build these relationships early on:

• Attend high school job fairs, career days, and related programs. Showcase the benefits your company has to offer by speaking one on with kids.
• Build an email list of high school students to send a monthly newsletter filled with facts, opportunities, and news on your industry. Communicating the benefit of a career in the trades with YOUR company is key to attracting future prospects!
• Sponsor high school athletic programs or club activities to amplify awareness of your company. The appeal of your company’s benefits and culture will catch the attention of high schoolers seeking a meaningful career path.
• Hold an annual scholarship contest for high schoolers to fund their trade school education. Spark their interest in working for your company.

Much to our country’s dismay, unemployed veterans constitute a stark percentage of the population. In 2015, about 495,000 veterans were recorded unemployed; 57% of which were 45 or older. CraftForce is humbled to recognize a groundswell of programs like Helmets to HardHats and Troops to Trade that provide resources to support servicemen and women transitioning into meaningful civilian careers.

Still, we believe that companies play a major role in decreasing the unemployment rate of returning veterans. It comes as no surprise that veterans are in fact some of the most promising and capable candidates to recruit. This is where you can play a part in catalyzing the mutual benefit. Adopt a veteran-hiring program that is aggressively recruiting veterans: a proven, incomparable talent. The following tactics can guide this process:

• Advertise your services in publications or newsletters written for retired servicemen.

• Launch a veteran employment program. Veteran Jobs Mission offers some great best practices on this. 
• Offer tuition reimbursement, assistance with moving costs, or short-term housing credit to aid returning soldiers in resettlement.
• Form an alliance with veteran’s organizations such as Hire Heroes USA  or Vet Jobs. Post your job openings directly on their job boards.

Adults who have been laid off through a plant or mining closure find themselves in an incredibly difficult position. They are highly qualified, with a lifetime of experience, yet out of a job on account – often times – of a volatile economy. Many of these laid-off employees have families to support, which adds to the stress. Build out your recruiting process to attract laid-off workers: an often overlooked talent. The following tips can help with this:

• Hold or attend community job fairs in communities that have been struck by major layoffs.
• Provide information about your company to churches, community groups, and other venues that are popular pitstops of the local working class.
• Advertise your services in local newsletters.
• Offer on-the-job training, trade-school grants, tuition reimbursement, assistance with childcare costs and other financial incentives that would benefit this demographic.

The foundation of a powerful recruiting process is relationship-building. Like you, the CraftForce team believes in investing in top-quality talent, long term, through meaningful partnerships.

CraftForce is a marketplace for skilled trades. Industrial companies can find top-quality skilled workers to meet the needs of their projects instantly. We provide job site ready skilled workers, handling hiring, training, placement, benefits, disability, and unemployment liability. Once a worker has applied for  a position, we conduct drug tests, run background checks, offer safety training, and call the applicant’s resume references to ensure they are a qualified candidate for the job.

TO DISCOVER HOW CRAFTFORCE’S SERVICES CAN ALLEVIATE THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE AS A RECRUITER INTHE SKILLED TRADES, VISIT WWW.CRAFTFORCE.COM

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