Recruiting and Retaining a Manufacturing Workforce

Emerging programs are increasingly going beyond simple vocational training by targeting students early or in underserved communities, offering direct pathways to employment and exposing trainees to advanced tech skills. 

These workforce development programs are a response to the industry labor gap that’s been apparent since before the pandemic years. An oft-cited Deloitte report estimates that up to 1.9 million jobs could remain vacant if current labor trends continue. 

“When a large share of the manufacturing base left the U.S. in over the past few decades, many states and local communities began to deemphasize skills and trade education at the high school level,” said Darrell Edwards, an assistant professor of practice in supply chain management at the University of Tennessee.

Edwards recently co-authored a whitepaper on reshoring with Alan Amling, an assistant professor of practice at the University of Tennessee. Their research explored how businesses are grappling with a push to reshore manufacturing operations in an environment where so many young people were told that a four-year college program was the only path to success.

“One of the unexpected findings in our research was the skills gap in trades — electricians, welders, carpenters, plumbers, masons, etc. If we’re going to bring more manufacturing to the U.S., we need more people in the skilled trades,” said Amling.

That’s in addition to other dominant gaps in employment, including in tech-driven and maintenance roles. 

Thanks to a mix of federal funding, private sector innovation and state-level efforts, prospective workers can now opt into a manufacturing career via multiple training paths.

Flagship events like Manufacturing Month in October are giving businesses another opportunity to attract talent.

They can do this by “reinforcing that this is a sector where you can make a real impact and build a fulfilling career,” said Laura Phillips, vice president of engineering and procurement for window manufacturer Pella Corp. “We get to tell our story, challenge outdated perceptions, and spotlight the career pathways that exist in this industry.”

Vocational training innovations

While there are many ways to close the labor gap, Amling suggests that it will take a mix of government, private and academic programs to make it happen. 

Traditionally, such efforts have been led by public-private networks such as the U.S. government-operated Manufacturing USA, a network of innovation institutes that partners with education organizations to offer training programs, apprenticeships, certification programs, among other offerings. Others include the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a federally-supported national network of centers that helps train and upskill workers. 

Additionally, federal laws — such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and CHIPS and Science Act — have provided robust sources of funding and impetus for training programs in different sectors.

Companies have also matched these efforts by developing training programs to fit specific hiring needs. 

In 2021, Kellanova’s Jackson, Tennessee, plant partnered with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology to create a curriculum initially focused on training students in electrical and instrumentation skills.

The program is bespoke in the sense that students learn in an advanced on-site training room designed to mirror equipment on the Jackson plant’s factory floor. Graduates leave the 16-month program with foundational E&I skills and have the opportunity to receive low-voltage qualification. To date, Kellanova has hired 50 employees into the E&I training program. 

According to Manuel Lopez-Portillo, Kellanova’s VP of North American supply chain, the set-up is a win-win.

“By the time they show up to day one of the actual job, they’re already familiar with the elements they’re going to be working on. The learning curve is faster and safety is improved as well,” said Lopez-Portillo. 

But finding prospective students to join any vocational programs is still a hurdle.

Pella has relied on a “multifaceted” approach by pairing interns with mentors, or partnering with schools and community programs to host plant tours and job shadows that spark interest in manufacturing early.

“Many of the students we have met through these interactions have joined the Pella team,” said Phillips.

Programs like the Uniquely Abled Project, founded by former engineering professor and business consultant Ivan Rosenberg, tackle the challenge in a different way by offering training for adults in the autism community. The program’s name is intended to correct possible perceptions of adults with autism by asserting the benefits that they would bring to a corporate environment.

The 12-week program offers 420 hours of in-class instruction on computer numerically controlled machines, in addition to U.S. OSHA and Tooling U certification. Over 300 students have graduated since the program’s launch 10 years ago.

Thanks to its ability to be adapted to any location, the program is currently hosted in 31 locations across 16 states.

“Dr. Rosenberg wanted to create a program that was scalable instead of tied to a singular physical location. So first, he decided that he did not want to deliver direct services. Instead, he wanted to distribute proven methodologies to direct service providers and allow them to succeed,” said Heidi Kershaw, a stakeholder engagement consultant for the Uniquely Abled Project.

Another element essential to the program’s success lies in its partnership with local manufacturing companies, which offer hiring opportunities post-graduation at businesses located near the academy, such as in shops that house CNC machines.

“In the agreement that we make with our hosting sites, we give a huge responsibility to those schools to create relationships with manufacturing companies within their region — to invite them to the campus, to understand what they need,” said Kershaw. 

While the Uniquely Abled Project is designed to be scalable and collaborative it still requires significant fundraising efforts. It’s the same practical hurdle that prevents many such programs from graduating students at scale. 

“That cost is around $5,000 to $6,000 per student depending on the location of the Uniquely Abled Academy. The school site is responsible for those fundraising efforts,” said Kershaw. “In the state of California, the local Department of Rehabilitation offices have generously provided the costs associated with their local programs. But there is always a need for more, to do more. I also think funding is reactive instead of proactive at this point.”

Changing training needs

When thinking about the future of manufacturing jobs, automation also figures heavily into the picture. 

For companies interested in reshoring manufacturing or wanting to close their employment gaps to remain competitive, “labor almost certainly must be augmented by some form of technology,” said Edwards. “Machines can operate around the clock, which helps to cover the depreciation cost of the investment, and can increasingly do more complex tasks.”

From Edwards’ view, training for jobs that interface with artificial intelligence or automation must happen at the factory floor level, in high school or through a community college trade curriculum.

“Many sophisticated supply chain planning and procurement tools require their users to understand how to navigate the tools and query information to maximize their effectiveness, so it happens through targeted training or through osmosis,” he said.

Manufacturers like Pella are adapting automation to uniquely fit their processes and capture valuable historical knowledge.

“We’re using automation not to replace jobs, but to preserve that expertise, make tough jobs easier and equip younger team members with tools that help them upskill and work hand in hand with technology,” said Phillips. 

Amling and Edwards’ research has a similar conclusion, predicting that “automation will not replace the need for human capital — it will heighten the need for more sophisticated, interdisciplinary skill sets.

“Earn-and-learn” opportunities — such as apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, internships and work-study programs — help workers gain in-demand skills and work experience while also earning a paycheck, according to a May 28 report from the Government Accountability Office.

Participants benefit through higher pay, low or no student debt and occupation-relevant education that leads to a credential, while employers benefit through higher employee retention and the ability to fill workforce gaps, GAO found.

“Many workers look to develop skills while maintaining self-sufficiency and meaningful employment,” according to the GAO report. “Some workers accomplish this through earn-and-learn opportunities, which provide practical experience that can help them gain needed skills to progress in their career.”

In particular, Registered Apprenticeship Programs combine a mix of on-the-job-training, mentorship and classroom-based instruction as part of employment. Several federal agencies administer programs to support RAPs, especially in high-demand industries such as construction, healthcare and skilled trades.

GAO found at least 26 programs across five federal agencies (U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, Labor and Veterans Affairs) that could employ earn-and-learn opportunities. 

During fiscal year 2024, 940,000 workers participated in RAPs across industries such as construction, healthcare, technology, energy and advanced manufacturing. Participants were generally in high-growth and high-wage occupations, with six of the 10 most common RAP occupations projected to grow faster than the average occupation by 2033.

At the same time, employers said barriers such as awareness gaps among employers and job seekers, administrative burdens and costs could prevent program expansion.

“Federal agencies have implemented several recent initiatives to address these challenges,” the GAO report concluded. “For instance, DOL contracts with industry intermediaries to serve as RAP sponsors, which can reduce the administrative burden on individual employers.”

The Trump administration has sent mixed signals on apprenticeships, issuing an executive order to surpass 1 million new active apprenticeships but not yet setting aside additional funding to support the effort. So far, the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget doesn’t provide new investments in apprenticeships and cuts total workforce development spending.

At the state level, commitment to apprenticeship programs remains strong. Pennsylvania has announced nearly $8 million in grants to expand its teacher apprenticeship program to address ongoing shortages.

Apprenticeships gained traction in 2024 as more employers sought to fill talent gaps and reach new communities. The programs tend to open paths to skilled trades, provide needed skills development and extend talent pipelines to workers with criminal records and those looking for temporary or contract work.

Registered apprenticeships can help workers access living wages, particularly in joint labor-management programs run cooperatively by unions and employers, according to research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Joint programs also had higher completion rates.

Sponsored content

By Insperity, Inc.

With the manufacturing environment getting more competitive, just getting your core business tasks done is overwhelming. If you’re also trying to handle all of your HR functions in-house, it pulls focus from other critical areas.

That’s where a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) comes in. A PEO operates as a co-employment partner, working as an extension of your business to handle HR duties so you can focus on your area of expertise.

Partnering with a PEO with experience in the manufacturing industry gets a variety of tasks off your desk, from timekeeping and basic payroll processing to benefits administration and HR compliance. Outsourcing these jobs (which are often outside your own expertise) lets you focus on what you’re good at: building your business. Specifically, an outsourced HR solution helps you:

• Attract & retain talent.
• Provide consultative safety services. 
• Streamline HR processes and remove the burden of HR-related administrative duties.
• Ensure HR compliance with expertise your in-house team lacks.

Here’s how:

A PEO Helps You Attract & Retain Talent

The labor market is in a constant state of flux and attracting the right talent can be an uphill climb even in the best of times. Attracting and keeping top candidates starts even before you write a job description. 

“Becoming the employer of choice starts with setting up the right company culture to appeal to the best employees,” says Marla Markoff, Manager, HR Services at Insperity. 

Your PEO partner can help you develop the company culture you want to present to potential employees and then create job descriptions and an interviewing process with those values in mind. A PEO can also partner with you to train leadership in the skills they need to motivate and train employees to do their jobs well, all while building on that company culture and communication plan you and your PEO create together. 

Your PEO Partner Handles Safety Programs and Compliance

Reducing workplace injury exposure is crucial, both for production line efficiency (which is impacted by employee absence) and for avoiding expensive attention from OSHA and other regulatory agencies. It’s also an important factor in maintaining employee trust and the company culture you’ve worked so hard to build. 

The tricky thing here is that safety programs are not one-size-fits-all. The policies, design of physical workspaces, required safety training and processes can all vary greatly depending on your unique production setup, products or work environment. Googling a generic safety program and thinking you’re covered can leave your employees open to injuries, or even fatalities.

Partnering with a PEO with experience developing safety programs for manufacturers significantly reduces your risk. “When it comes to Department of Labor and OSHA compliance, there aren’t a lot of resources out there to just build a safety program from zero,” says Peter Zaretskiy, Safety Services Manager at Insperity. “It’s very easy to make a mistake and assume your Googled safety program makes you compliant, until OSHA shows up and tells you your program isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”

The years of experience offered by a PEO (especially a PEO who has worked with a varied roster of manufacturers) ensure your safety program fits your work environment and keeps you out of regulatory liability. A PEO also develops employee training to keep everyone educated on safety protocols and rules they need to follow to keep everyone safe.

Outsourcing Streamlines HR Processes

If you have an in-house HR team (or just a single HR professional), keeping up with all of these potential issues is a struggle. Your small team or one-person show will run into things they’re unsure about – and as noted in the safety section, internet searches for solutions can quickly lead you astray.

A PEO’s biggest advantage is that they have an entire HR team at your disposal: a Payroll Specialist, Human Resource Specialist, Learning and Development Specialist, Client Liaison, Safety Specialist and a variety of other teams to support your compliance needs. You get the benefit of expertise in all aspects of human resources, rather than a generalist who can’t help but struggle to keep up with things like constantly changing regulations.  

Partnering with a PEO with Manufacturing Experience Ensures HR Compliance

Regulations change all the time and without a team whose sole focus is keeping up with those regulations, you can find yourself in compliance one day and facing penalties the next.

Zaretskiy notes, “Just this last year in California, we saw a new standard for workplace violence prevention and worksite security that many manufacturers were not prepared for, because that’s not where their immediate attention is.” 

No two manufacturers are alike. Your HR compliance requirements may be wildly different from the manufacturer down the road, depending on your respective industries. That’s why it’s essential to your overall business success to partner with a PEO with experience working with manufacturers across industries. 

A PEO can steer you away from potential liability and keep up with HR compliance issues for you, so you can focus on your area of expertise: running your manufacturing operation.

Ready to find out exactly how Insperity can benefit your business? Call 800.465.3800 or click here to learn more.

The CEOs of Carrier Global Corp. and Lowe’s are leading a Business Roundtable workforce initiative announced this summer to address worker shortages in the skilled trades.

The program will focus on trades in four industries: industrial and manufacturing, construction and building, maintenance and repair, and energy. For every 20 job openings in the skilled trades, there is only one net new employee, according to the Business Roundtable’s news release.

Dane Linn, the Business Roundtable’s senior vice president of corporate initiatives, said the initiative will help companies identify potential solutions to workforce challenges more quickly, even if that means sharing tips with a competitor. 

“Why pretend that the problem that Lowe's is facing is so unique from the problem that Home Depot is facing?” Linn said. 

Linn added that he sees this as an issue that impacts a broad swath of companies. For example, JP Morgan Chase needs electricians for its facilities. 

Some companies have focused on boosting training opportunities at postsecondary schools. Lowe’s, for example, has issued $43 million in grants since 2023 to community and technical colleges for recruitment and training in carpentry and construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and property maintenance, according to a company news release. 

Carrier Global Corp. previously announced a program “to hire 1,000 U.S. service technicians and train more than 100,000 climate solutions service and sales professionals over the next five years.” 

Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin said one of the ways to enhance training in the skilled trades is through new technologies. 

“What has changed is using things like virtual reality and augmented reality because it can give a much different virtual training experience than on-site training,” he said during the Business Roundtable’s CEO Workforce Forum, where the new initiative was announced. “It really supplements it very well.”

While technology continues to advance, Lowe’s Chairman and CEO Marvin Ellison said skilled trades workers will be more in demand than ever. 

“AI isn’t gonna fix a hole in your roof, it’s not going to respond to an electrical issue in your home, it’s not going to stop your water heater from leaking,” he said during the forum. 

He added that “corporate jobs” are the ones most likely to be “supplemented” by AI.

Linn said the workforce initiative is still in the early stages and that a little under 20 companies have joined the effort. The Business Roundtable is planning to recruit more companies in the coming months.  

“An electrician is an electrician is an electrician, and they all go through the same training,” he said. “So what does that look like to train individuals at scale? And I think that's what we're solving for, and that's the beauty and the value of trying to solve this problem with some of America's largest companies. We have the opportunity to produce significant numbers of individuals who have the skills to fill these gaps.”

Since December 2024, Stephen DeClercq has been going to work at Georgia-Pacific's corrugated plant in Milan, Michigan. That might seem unusual considering the plant closed in 2024, and DeClercq retired in December following 41 years with G-P.

But the company tapped him to be part of its new initiative to fill labor gaps by bringing retirees back into the workforce. For the last nine months, DeClercq has been part of the program and serves as the caretaker at the shuttered Milan plant until it sells. G-P contacted him due to his command of his previous role as the plant's superintendent.

"When they first asked me about it, I told them I didn't think so. They asked me again and I decided to go ahead and give it a shot," DeClercq said. "It's a good opportunity."

Program organizers place retirees into positions at G-P — including business units besides packaging, such as lumber and tissue — and other companies owned by parent Koch. They’re encouraged by the early results from the Retiree Talent Network, which launched in November 2024. The initiative is one way manufacturers increasingly are thinking outside the box to attract and keep talent as ongoing manufacturing labor shortages show no signs of easing.

G-P views the program as giving them a competitive advantage not only in addressing labor shortages but also in retaining institutional knowledge, maintaining productivity and reducing overtime costs.

"This is a welcome addition to all of the other services we offer," said Kathi Robinson, market manager at Encadria Staffing Solutions, Georgia-Pacific's in-house staffing agency which runs the program.

Placements began before the official program inception 10 months ago, and to date there are 141 participants with an additional 25 retirees available and awaiting placement. 

Participants had to work at and formally retire from the company, either voluntarily or when G-P eliminated their positions or closed a facility. They provide particular skills for special projects or short-term assignments, including as equipment maintenance technicians and lift-truck operators. 

"It was designed to create a database of retirees to leverage the wealth of experience and knowledge that our retirees have to bridge gaps in staffing," said Natika Boyd-Johnson, senior client service manager at Encadria.

The company also reached out to Kenyon Meyer, who retired in October 2024 after working at G-P’s Denton, Texas, sheet feeder plant for 10 years, to gauge his interest in assisting with maintenance and upgrades on two corrugators at a plant in San Leandro, California. Meyer agreed to come on board, and since March 2025 he's been traveling from his home in the Dallas area to the California plant for two to three weeks per month.

"I've been a corrugator for over 40 years. I have a lot of knowledge and a lot of background experience," Meyer said. "So I felt like my knowledge and experience would help. And also to see the gaps in the process and give them suggestions on how to improve the process and get to a better state."

How it started

The Retiree Talent Network is the brainchild of previous Encadria General Manager Sue Strong-Gossage, who herself has since retired. "We didn't want to experience a brain drain," Robinson said, and Strong-Gossage recognized the value in harnessing "those folks that were planning on retiring to mentor and guide our up-and-coming talent.”

Robinson took the lead on the program after Strong-Gossage's recent retirement and says the team is "certainly going to try to do Sue proud and make sure that this program is beneficial to our upcoming retirees."

Many participants are recruited after filling out an exit survey upon retirement that includes questions about whether they’re interested in joining the network, either immediately or in the future. Boyd-Johnson engages with potential participants to offer additional resources with facts about the program and to gather relevant retiree information such as proficiencies, desired work hours, desired project lengths and whether they're willing to travel. 

Several times a month, Encadria sends "spotlight" emails to G-P and Koch HR teams that highlight a retiree and their skill set. Facility operators reach out to Boyd-Johnson with requests for the appropriate retiree to fill distinct roles.

She connects the parties and then onboards the retiree if the connection is mutually agreeable. Boyd-Johnson also receives requests from facility supervisors to contact certain retirees who aren't yet in the program but are in demand based on their expertise and ability to fill specific needs.

Because these employees already were vetted and onboarded when they worked for the company in a full-time capacity, they typically go through a pared down onboarding for the Retiree Talent Network. Although participants are W2 employees, they are considered consultants and generally work part-time hours on a variable schedule. The flexibility allows them to take on other part-time work if they choose, with exceptions for G-P’s competitors. 

The initiative gives retirees "the opportunity to still contribute to Georgia-Pacific, but on their time frame. It's flexible for them" and allows them to work around factors including taxes and benefits, said Boyd-Johnson.

Joining the talent network allowed DeClercq to ramp down his employment instead of fully retiring abruptly. He said the compensation from working roughly two to three days a week at four-hour stretches lets him pay for insurance while making some extra income each month.

DeClercq would consider taking on another consulting role with G-P once the Milan plant is sold and his oversight no longer is needed, but it would depend on the role — and it would need to be local. Until then, he'll continue to be plant caretaker. 

“It’s kind of neat still meeting some new people — you know, with realtors that come in I'm showing the plant," DeClercq said. “It's kind of neat to answer their questions and stuff [based on] the time I spent there, the knowledge I have of the facility.”

How it's going

G-P is tracking the program's success, but does not yet have firm data to reference on performance metrics considering the initiative isn't even a year old; that historical data might become more solid in another six to eight months. The team is refining the program as it progresses and identifying additional opportunities.

"It's currently in its infancy. We will absolutely be thinking strategically about how to further leverage the retiree network program," Robinson said. "This will hopefully be a permanent part of all of Encadria's services."

While some retirees are intentionally paired with newer hires to share accumulated knowledge, many informally fall into positions of mentoring less experienced workers. Meyer feels that at the San Leandro plant, especially with one eager early-stage employee he has taken under his wing.

"This plant's got a lot of young people and they've had a lot of turnover," he said. "The younger ones seem to want to learn and reach out to me and ask me questions and what should they do in a situation. So that's cool."

Explaining that there were a lot of areas on the corrugators that hadn't been properly maintained, Meyer said the employees now "are starting to see things being repaired, get corrected" and can emulate that after observing him.

"It definitely is a unique kind of program," Meyer said. "This option to utilize retirees, I don't know too many companies that have that.”

Caterpillar Inc. plans to commit $100 million over the next five years to upskill its workers to keep up with technological advancements and an evolving labor market.

The construction and mining equipment manufacturer is making the investment in a bid to train up its workforce with robotics, automation and artificial intelligence technologies, including digital twins and machine language models.

The pledge builds on Caterpillar’s efforts to close the growing manufacturing skills gap, including through STEM outreach for K-12 students and paid technician training programs for adults.

Over the next five years, the skill sets needed for the global workforce are set to evolve dramatically, driven by rapid technological advancements in AI, information processing, robotics and automation.

According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2025, these trends are expected to fuel demand for technology-related skills, including in AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy. There will also be a need for more human-centered skills, such as leadership and social influence.

Workers on average can expect two-fifths of their existing skills to be transformed or outdated by 2030, the report’s data show. This is not only a labor issue, but a barrier for businesses looking to remain competitive in a dynamic market. Recently, companies like Amazon and Siemens have looked to combat this through sizable investments in upskilling their workers as a recruitment and retention strategy.

“As an industry leader, Caterpillar understands the urgency of preparing the next generation with the capabilities required for the jobs of tomorrow,” Jaime Mineart, Caterpillar’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. “This pledge, our first of its kind, reflects our dedication to collaborating with our global stakeholders to devise the best training solutions.”

Caterpillar, founded in California in 1925, is making its workforce investment in honor of its centennial. The Irving, Texas-based company has 93 manufacturing facilities worldwide, including 37 across the United States, according to an investor filing.

While the COVID-19 pandemic immediately shifted much of the workforce to be more flexible, that trend is continuing across frontline manufacturing workers, panelists said at the 2024 Women in Manufacturing Conference.

Work flexibility can come in all shapes and forms — adding temporary workers during peak season, working overtime or part-time shifts, and adapting to transitions in workers’ lives, such as having children.

One of the pandemic’s lasting effects has been the light it shed on these different needs and how manufacturers can cater to them. 

“Before [the COVID-19 pandemic], on the production side, we would hire temps, we bring them in as temps, try them out for a little bit, and then hire them full-time if they were more productive in their roles,” said Susan Wallace, VP of HR at Carlisle Cos., at the conference. “During COVID, that all changed. We could not find temporary workers that we needed.”

The industry lost roughly 1.4 million jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and manufacturers are forecasted to see up to 1.9 million jobs go unfilled if current labor gaps aren’t addressed.

With the changing dynamics of the workforce in the post-pandemic era, flexibility for frontline factory workers can vary widely. Read on for how some manufacturers are bringing more flexibility to their workforces. 

Looking at the needs of your workforce

Flexibility often ranks as a top factor in workers’ choice of a manufacturing position. For example, 49% of women leaders say flexibility is one of the top three considerations in job mobility, according to the 2022 Women in the Workforce study by McKinsey.

Additionally, 47% manufacturers in a 2024 Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute report said that flexible work arrangements was the strategy chosen to best retain workers. 

During the pandemic, many women in manufacturing stopped working, opting to stay home to care for their kids because it was less expensive than paying for daycare, Marla DeFrank, VP of operations and supply chain at Carlisle Cos., said during the panel.

“There was still somebody that was a great worker, wanted to work. [They] just needed that flexibility for their family,” DeFrank said at the conference.

Additionally, for manufacturing workers that belong to a union, their flexibility schedule needs are a bit different, Sarah Golden, director of HR at Volvo Group Trucks Operations, said at the conference. Unions aim to ensure workers a guaranteed number of working hours, so temporary work isn’t something they’re necessarily interested in. 

In fact, flexibility for union workers may be more about having the right skills to use during overtime jobs, Golden said.

“It's more how are we utilizing the resources and the competence that we have in the right way, so that they're more interested in the jobs that they're doing, and that when they're choosing overtime, they're choosing it based on the competence that they have as well,” Golden said.

The value of a skills-based workforce method

Skill-based hiring may help attract and retain talent by leveraging workers’ interests and strengths, panelists said.

Carlisle Construction Materials, part of Carlisle Cos., started testing a new program to develop a more temporary and flexible labor pool. They opened up roles for people that could work four-hour shifts. The company then trained them and found an unexpected outcome from the experiment.

“Some of the people that came in were actually trying us on as much as we were trying them on,” Wallace said. “They wanted to see what we were like as an employer, and as soon as they understood the role that they were doing and saw that there was the ability to move to a full-time position, some of them did, and that was a great outcome. A lot of them were women who were just coming back into the workforce.”

How companies can implement skills-based hiring

Additionally, companies should have an updated skills matrix that’s reviewed at least annually to help both new employees and operations managers when pairing people with certain jobs, DeFrank said.

“A lot of people focus on the title, versus what are the skills that you either want to achieve or what are the skills that you need to be successful in the role? And the importance of that is you're really breaking it down, and you're challenging yourself too. What do you really need?” DeFrank said.

The skills matrix may help improve upskilling as it increases transparency in regards to what managers are expecting from employees and what skill level workers are at.

“If I talk to somebody and say, ‘Tell me where you want to go next, tell me where you want to go in five years without a title, it's what experiences and skills do you want to have, and how can I help you get those experiences and skills?” DeFrank said. “I would say the same thing for production workers, from an operations leader perspective. I want people that are cross trained. I want people that have skills in multiple areas of the factory.”