Manufacturing needs a makeover

Operational roles in manufacturing don’t often appear on the “dream job” lists of schoolchildren and students, but they absolutely should. The sector is now—and will continue to be—a crucible of change as technology-enabled operations transform organizations and careers, almost beyond recognition.

Early in 2024, a National Association of Manufacturers Outlook Survey confirmed that more than 71 percent of manufacturers have difficulty attracting and retaining employees. This largely comes down to a poor perception of careers in production. Unfortunately, this has been drilled into generations, and a legacy preference to work in finance, advisory, technology, and service roles pervades.

The reality is quite different. Modern manufacturing has as much, if not more, to offer as other sectors in terms of opportunities to learn, have tangible business impact, and work with some of the latest technological advancements. Renewable energy, 3D printing, robotics, and AI are just a few of the elements that make modern manufacturing more akin to science fiction than widget making, and these technologies are driving processes of change that will define industries for decades to come.

Modern manufacturing can, and should, be seen as much as a STEM-powered career choice as software development and neuroscience, bringing those working within the field transferable skills and dazzling cross-sector career opportunities. If you’re a manufacturer, it may be a good moment to put some energy and resources into convincing Gen Z of these changes—many of which are already underway.

Pitching Gen Z

McKinsey data shows that workplace flexibility, career development, the potential for advancement, and meaningful work are, in that order, the top three factors that keep Gen Z employees in their jobs. At the same time, Gen Z sits at a privileged vantage point in the current talent pool; as companies compete for workers, Gen Z school leavers and university graduates sense their value in the employment marketplace and are easily able to research how potential employers’ principles fit with their own. Considering how to align these two sets of values will be an important part of the proposition to this group.

A generation at the ready

So, as a manufacturer, how can you stand out amid the competition from other industries, many of them (such as technology-focused organizations) with decades of experience and practice to draw on when it comes to attracting new talent?

There are the obvious things that Gen Z wants from manufacturing, of course: meaningful work, workplace flexibility, and reliable coworkers, to name a few.

For forward-looking manufacturers, there are also strategic choices to make when it comes to the employee offering. One option is to invest in people, developing career paths to nurture and sustain long-term productivity from long-term employees. Or, at the other end of the scale, run your recruitment efforts in overdrive when numbers are short and bemoan the fact that you can’t get staff because no one seems to want to work for your company.

The former, preferable option admittedly requires investment. Training and development programs, job rotation opportunities, flexibility through shift-trading marketplaces, and in-house skills academies don’t run themselves. Good people managers need to be courted and retained. In many manufacturers, managers also need to be cultivated and shaped, their socioemotional and broader people management capabilities upskilled for better project management, communication, and delegation.

In the latter scenario, having to continuously recruit and train more staff amid perennial churn is also a cost and a permanent drag on productivity. There are, of course, gradations between these extremes. But the closer you get to the first option, the more you are catering to the needs and desires of the talent that will soon make up the majority of your workforce.

Do the groundwork

The next 20 years will see business models for companies of all shapes and sizes, and in all industries, change radically. Organizations need fresh mindsets and personnel across the board. Middle and senior managers who encourage and reward innovation, giving employees the space and training to develop the ability to think differently and profitably, should be recognized. Those who do the opposite ought to be redirected or weeded out, particularly in the roles where innovation and transformation are most sorely needed.

Employers seeking a high-performing, sustainable workforce need to turn their minds to upskilling supervisor capabilities in the context of rapid and constantly developing technology—introducing GenAI copilots and one-to-one coaching, for example, so that managers can transform their own working days, which may currently be task-saturated or dominated by reporting. Some managers will also lack the capabilities to develop meaningful relationships with their team. Help them acquire and master the tools and skills to deliver the effective community building that the next generation of manufacturers craves.

For manufacturing organizations to become an employer of choice for Gen Z will require a shift in mindset. But there are lasting benefits for companies that get it right—and the economy as a whole. Our deep study of employee experience and productivity in recent years demonstrates that employee preferences are remaining steady, especially around recognition, meaning, and a sense of community in the workplace. With many of these factors remaining unaddressed, leaders must embrace the change and cultivate a new generation of the workforce.

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