In our last blog, “Why Minimum Wage Is No Longer an Options,” we discussed the logic behind increasing the wages you pay workers during the pandemic. But the reality is that some corporate margins are so thin that that simply may not be an option at this time. If employers can’t manage to pay their employees higher wages, perhaps decreasing your expectations when screening potential workers or even considering “second chance” hiring is a good option.
Finding Light Industrial is Always Challenging
Warehouse and light industrial jobs are almost always looking for good workers. Employers who can’t afford to pay the most competitive wages for these physically demanding roles need to find workarounds to keep their funnel of talent full. One way is to lower expectations at the frontend hiring process. While we’re not suggesting you hire employees not suitable for the job, consider providing additional training to new and inexperienced workers to open up the job pool more. Increasing the time you put into workers may increase their loyalty, and it will certainly give you more options when searching for talent.
You may consider more flexible scheduling options to allow workers who can only do part-time or college students with limited availability. Also, consider the locations where you are advertising your job openings; using social media is a good way to reach younger populations that may not otherwise see your job descriptions. This is a low-cost way to find a steady stream of applicants.
Consider Second Chance Hiring
If you’re having trouble filling your light industrial or warehouse position, maybe it’s time to reconsider your standards. Second chance hiring is a way for employers to put the nearly one in three Americans that have a criminal arrest record back to work. That’s 70 million U.S. workers with minor and sometimes major infractions that they may or may not have served time for. To put it another way, as many Americans have criminal records as college diplomas.
Before a background check is even run, many employers ask a potential employee if they’ve ever been arrested for a serious crime. Not convicted—just arrested. Is your company one that views checking that box on a job application as a red flag that makes the candidate not suitable for hire? Is this something you feel is worth reconsidering? While employers should seek the best and most trustworthy workers for the job, it is likely that valuable contributors to your team may be overlooked simply because of a mistake they made—and paid for—in their past.
A recent study said, “No healthy economy can sustain such a large and growing population of unemployable workers.” Even workers who had a relatively minor or inadvertent brush with the law are often stigmatized for the rest of their lives when they are both ready and able to work. One article put it this way, “There are people who are skilled, experienced, trustworthy, and loyal and have great character who also have a criminal history.”
Call Us Today
Another way to increase your talent pool is to talk with Lingo Staffing. We have a variety of options available for employers of all sizes. It’s worth the conversation, and we’re standing by to take your call today.
