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Recruiting Low Income Employees
Recruiting & Staffing
Recruiting Low Income Employees
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One of our divisions is having significant trouble attracting a sufficient number of manufacturing operators to run at full capacity. One of the problems is that the pay is relatively low ($9/hr start
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Forums » Topic Forums » Recruiting & Staffing » Recruiting Low Income Employees
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Recruiting Low Income Employees
posted at 8/6/2007 4:47 AM EDT
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Posts: 8
First: 8/2/2007 Last: 2/28/2008 |
One of our divisions is having significant trouble attracting a sufficient number of manufacturing operators to run at full capacity. One of the problems is that the pay is relatively low ($9/hr starting) and the local labor market is extremely tight. The starting operator pay at this division is already the highest in the company so we probably can't do much more there, and because it's a manufacturing operation we are limited in how flexible we can be in terms of shifts, etc. The plant is in a relativley small population area and the local economy is heavily dependent upon tourism and outdoor recreation.
I'm wondering if any of you have any tips for recruiting relatively low income employees in this type of market. We've done the typical things such as advertise in the paper, etc., so I'm looking for more "outside the box" ideas. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. |
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Recruiting Low Income Employees
posted at 8/6/2007 6:21 AM EDT
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Posts: 29
First: 7/27/2007 Last: 8/31/2007 |
Without a few more details, I would suggest the following:
Focus on your recruitment materials...depending on their current employment situation, many potential employees actually do value job security, a positive atmosphere and employee involvement over straight pay. Of course, you need to make sure you actually HAVE good job security, a positive atmosphere and employee involvement in order for this to be a compelling pull to candidates. You said you are in a small population area - if you are near a larger metropolis, you might be able to do a cost-of-living comparison. Often, lower salaries are relative to the area. Is there a high rate of promotion or opportunity for overtime? These are 2 very strong selling points that can counteract lower starting rates. During the interviews, talk to the candidate about other things they find important in a work environment. You'll soon see if you are able to offer them. Merely finding different locations in which to advertise isn't going to necessarily pull in quality employees. They have to be able to see the overall value in working for your company. If you have some of the non-monetary benefits, you should be able to work that into your recruiting with some enthusiasm and see pretty immediate results. If not, it's probably something you need to focus on more than just finding people who will work for 9 bucks an hour. Good luck! |
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Recruiting Low Income Employees
posted at 8/6/2007 9:57 AM EDT
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Posts: 13
First: 8/3/2007 Last: 8/7/2007 |
We recruit quite a few low-level income employees and we have had good experience with the Employment Guide. These are free job advertisement papers that people can pick up at places like Wal-Mart, Harris Teeter, pretty much everywhere. If they are avaiable in your area, I would give it a try. They also post jobs online. The price is good, too. |
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Recruiting Low Income Employees
posted at 8/6/2007 12:57 PM EDT
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
I was faced with a similar problem recruiting call center reps for $8.50 per hour. At $9 per hour, you're talking entry level positions.
I used online postings on Careerbuilder. They worked, and I listed my openings for job categories for whom call center rep ( or operator ) would be a step up; specifically, food service and retail. We tripled our responses and had no problem filling our positions from those sources. I figured that the average age of our reps was about 20 years old, and these are all people who grew up with computers in school. Focus interiews with our call agents indicated that nearly all had computers or at least access to one and that they relied first and foremost on online job postings to find new jobs. |
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