Yes, that's exactly what I meant: How is your labor force aging?
If it's "simultaneously," you are in trouble.
A retired friend of mine got a call from an ex-employer who asked him to come back as a 'part-time consultant' to train their labor force on machinery startup, operation, and repairs. The Company depends on that machinery and the machinery is both complex and dangerous--so it's not like driving a car. They kept "upping the ante" dollar-wise--and he kept refusing. He ain't going back.
The reason for that company's desperation is simple: nearly all their experienced labor retired in the last few years. They had not been too smart about "planning the labor force", had gone defensive on hiring (or "cheap", if you please) and as a result, had no journeymen to promote. All they have is apprentices.
That's a problem: they must now limit their sales because they (literally) cannot deliver what was 100% of their capacity 5 years ago; they're down to the mid-70's%.
For the foreseeable future, the US economy will be growing and the available labor pool is almost non-existent. It will be far worse in SE Wisconsin about three years from now when Foxconn opens up, by the way.
If you think that going cheap in worker recruitment is the smart play, your business will be extinct in about 10 years or less. Change the attitude of your HR/ER people, now.
I retired in January. The last several years I worked, I made the lowest pay. Temp agencies call me now and I tell them $35 an hour or no dice. They never call back.
ReplyDeleteQuad is going to find that out. The company has changed so much since Harry died. In many ways, NOT fr the better.
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