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According to a new study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, as many as 2.1 million manufacturing jobs could be left unfilled by 2030. The study puts the price tag of that at around $1 trillion.
Paul Sturgeon
June 7, 2021
2 Min Read
Image: Zerbor/Adobe Stock
According to a new study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, as many as 2.1 million manufacturing jobs could be left unfilled by 2030. The study puts the price tag of that at around $1 trillion. Overall, there are more than eight million open jobs in the United States right now, a record number.
Who could have foreseen this? Well, Talent Talk did in March 2020, when we said, “If you make errors in judgment on hiring right now [during the COVID-19 pandemic] and we do end up in a worst-cast situation, your mistakes probably won’t matter. But if it is closer to a best-case, the decisions you make today will be critical in the ongoing race for talent. There could be an even greater risk in discounting how fast the United States can bounce back, medically and economically.”
We concluded by saying, “Historically, we are long overdue for a recession. What if the coronavirus is the trigger for a shallow and short recession? There is going to be a great amount of stimulus pumped into our economy in the short term, and this has potentially significant long-term implications for our supply chain that could create even more jobs — a lot more jobs — in the United States.”
At the time we provided advice on how best to proceed, but that ship has sailed as the saying goes. What should you do now?
The short answer — recruit. Mads Faurholt-Jorgensen, a serial entrepreneur and bestselling author, said recently in a Ted Talk that leaders spend 10% of their time recruiting and 90% of their time making up for recruiting mistakes.
I think that “the war for talent” has always been a misnomer. It is more akin to a race, not a fight, and it is time to start running. We will elaborate more on these points in future Talent Talks, but here is what you will need to win the race in the end:
Do what you can to make your company a great place to work and progress a career. The Talent Talk column, “Five Keys to Creating an Employer Value Proposition that Commands Attention,” provides some tips.
Define as precisely as possible the type of people you need in the organization.
Locate those people and connect with them.
Let them know about your company, why it is a great place to work and advance their career.
Begin to break the paradigm of hiring only for open positions.
Move decisively and quickly to add talent. Find ways to cut the red tape.
If you can make the budget work, be prepared to over-hire a bit.
About the author
Paul Sturgeon is CEO of KLA Industries, a national search firm specializing in plastics, packaging, and polymer technology. If you have a topic you would like to see discussed, a company that is growing, or other ideas for this blog, e-mail Sturgeon at [email protected].
About the Author(s)
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