Skilled Trades Warning Signs: How to Adapt to Industry Changes

What was the last major issue you faced? How did you solve it? Looking back, you can probably identify a few warning signs that you failed to notice – because you didn’t want to see it or you just didn’t know what to look for.

Every challenge has these markers. This is your warning for the skilled labor shortage we are facing – and how much worse it could become in the next decade.

We all know how many skilled tradespeople left the facility management industry in the past decade, and we also know how few are signing up to replace them.

According to the Manpower Group, a survey found that 45 percent of employers are already experiencing difficulties filling roles. Some labor subsectors have average ages closer to 60 than 50, so when that group retires, the shock to the market will have major effects.

We’ve seen the warning signs. Now, what are we going to do about it? Here are a few ideas to develop and attract a solid workforce. When other companies are suffering through a labor crisis, you can have a tried-and-true method to avoid it.

Mentoring: Whether it’s an internship program or a day-one onboarding method, this is likely the best long-term way to develop your workforce. Experience doesn’t come quickly, but a guiding hand can point new employees toward important lessons.

Try finding employees with common interests, either professional or personal, and with complementary skill sets. If a new hire is great with computers but struggles with customer interaction, connect him with someone with the opposite skills. The new hire will build confidence by succeeding in one area while learning skills in the other. Human Resources will likely be a good partner to begin this program.

Partnering with education facilities: High schools and technical programs instruct students who are typically better trained than your usual applicant. The students are also interested in the career, giving you an important pipeline to talented recruits. TDIndustries works with several of these programs, and has seen a great return on its investment in these programs.

Outsourcing: Think for a second about what it would take to turn your facility maintenance team into a world-class organization. Additional labor, training, equipment purchases, technology upgrades, and likely an additional position just to keep track of everything. That’s a tremendous expenditure, even if you could find skilled workers to fill the positions. Stick to what you know you do well, and for everything else, consider a company that has the breadth and depth of knowledge to solve your other issues.

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