What Do Workers Want Now?
Randy Wolken, President & CEO
As the economy continues to recover, workers are on the sidelines are considering returning to work. The unemployment rate has continued to decline. This makes finding workers even harder. Additional strategies are needed to secure the limited workers available. What do these workers want from employers?
McKinsey has asked workers what they are looking for as they look for new jobs. You may find the findings surprising. Meaningful work and flexibility are more important than the compensation package among the currently unemployed. They also want career development and advancement potential. An essential aspect for those in nontraditional roles is adequate total compensation followed by career advancement potential and work flexibility. It is necessary to consider these critical characteristics as you seek to entice those workers currently unemployed or in nontraditional jobs to your worksites.
New ways to communicate with and find your future workforce are vital. At MACNY, we are focused on creating new pathways to your jobs. Our Partners for Education & Business, Inc. (PEB) team engages dozens of schools and over 100 businesses to expose the future workforce to manufacturing and tech careers. Working with middle school-age children up through high school helps companies build full awareness of great career opportunities beyond a traditional college-only approach. ‘Learn and Earn’ is the approach desired by all future workers. Click here to learn more about how you can get involved with PEB.
Work redesign may be necessary to fill your currently open roles. As mentioned, ‘Learn and Earn’ is now what employees want throughout their careers. One proven approach is MACNY’s Registered Apprenticeship program through the Manufacturers Intermediary Apprenticeship Program (MIAP). MIAP supports equitable access to Registered Apprenticeship for all individuals, regardless of their work experience or academic qualifications. Across the state, MIAP supports companies in the recruitment, upskilling, and retention of new workers by acting as intermediaries to help them establish and manage New York State Registered Apprenticeship program. The program is supported by a group of Alliance Partners that are spread out across 8 different regions of New York State: MACNY (Central New York and the North Country), RTMA (Rochester), COI (The Hudson Valley), MAST (The Southern Tier), BNMA (Buffalo), CEG (Albany), Ignite LI (Long Island), and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce (Brooklyn). This program helps you offer unemployed, underemployed, and nontraditional individuals ways to grow into an exciting career path. Often, member companies offer this approach to a junior and proven employee. It elevates their skills and moves them into new positions. The open positions can then be used to entice others to return to work at your business. It also offers employees competitive wages and access to benefits. You can join the hundreds of companies state-wide that have begun MACNY-supported apprenticeship and upskilling programs. Click here to learn more about Registered Apprenticeship.
It will not be easy to introduce learn and earn approaches into your business, but they are essential to entice workers to join and stay at your workplace. Together, we can build better approaches and create new pathways for your current and future workers. You can count on us to help you do this successfully. As always, please let us know how we can help.