Manufacturing companies are focusing more on employee retention efforts to support quality staff and improve productivity. They are investing in onboarding practices, mentoring programs, apprenticeship models, training, referral and retention bonuses, as well as training, skill development and organizational culture.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) opened a second round of grant funding to spark investment in Manufacturing 4.0 technologies. Grants of up to $500,000 will be awarded to companies with 76-250 employees to purchase technology, software, hardware, equipment, training materials, licenses and tools.
The State of Iowa is now requiring individuals collecting unemployment benefits to complete four job searches a week instead of two. Employers can report unemployment fraud or abuse to the Iowa Workforce Development System.
Drawbacks
Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) conducted a survey from September 2020 to October 2021, in an effort to understand the needs that manufacturers faced early and the pandemic and the needs they have today. With over 3,000 responses to the survey, IMEC was able to chart urgent needs (what companies must do today) and priorities (what companies must do within 6 months). Here are the categories that represent the most urgent challenges for business:
Workforce: find, train, and retain skilled employees
Growth: recapture lost sales and creating new growth opportunities
Productivity: maximize capacity, increase output and focus on efficiencies in processes
Leadership: lead the organization toward high performance
Supply chain: address supply chain issues
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment rates are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. Unfortunately, employers continue to be frustrated because the economy hasn’t experienced an increase in labor participation rates. Companies had diminished employment numbers pre-pandemic. The pandemic enhanced the rate of retirements and employees choosing to exit the workforce to care for children. Employers were at a deficit level of workforce before the pandemic. If citizens don’t re-engage with the workforce at higher rates, this will continue to be a struggle for employers to meet productivity goals for the year.
The lack of available childcare is hurting business productivity. Iowa has one of the highest rates of two-person, working households in the country and employees need reliable, second shift, drop-in and weekend childcare options.
