How to Recruit Hourly Workers

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How to Recruit Hourly Workers

What is Crazy Town?

In their recent Recruiting Daily article, Recruiting Hourly Workers in ‘Crazy Town’, former Orion Talent CEO Mike Starich and Director of Talent Acquisition Rachel Ward explore the hourly worker shortage. Like Mike and Rachel write, we have all heard the stories of employers offering eye-popping bonuses and other creative perks to attract workers. But it isn’t working.

“In a recent NBC news report, the president of a Maryland steel product manufacturer characterized the current labor market as “crazy town,” noting that even after a 20% increase in wages, it’s still difficult to get people to send in resumes and applications, let alone show up for interviews,” write Mike and Rachel.

So “Crazy Town” can officially be defined as a labor market where the average wage of restaurant and supermarket workers rose above $15 an hour for the first time ever, but people still won’t apply. There is hope, however, if employers take note of Mike and Rachel’s tips for going beyond pay and considering working conditions, company culture, flexibility and advancement opportunities.

Below are their ideas for offering more flexibility and creativity to attract and retain hourly talent:

Know Your Talent Competitors: Study the work environments of such talent competitors and offer more.
Invest in Advancement Opportunities: Invest in an employee’s potential growth and longevity within the company.
Rethink Bonus Programs: Consider retention bonuses, performance bonuses and structured career growth with pay increases as the employee advances.
Strengthen Your Employer Brand: Your reputation for how you treat workers is often your best avenue for attracting new talent.
Make it Simple to Apply and Reduce Barriers to Entry: Consider self-scheduling of interviews 24/7, and not requiring resumes or email addresses.

Exiting “Crazy Town”

You can read more about “Crazy Town” and how to overcome it in Mike and Rachel’s article here. And don’t forget that we are here to help, as well. Our Direct Sourcing solutions can help connect you with large-scale talent pipelines you need for those non-exempt roles.

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