Employer Engagement in Uncertain Times
Macroeconomic uncertainty impacts nearly every sector in the U.S. economy. Manufacturers, hospitality, healthcare, construction, and energy companies face rapidly changing government policies that make long-range planning and forecasting challenging, if not impossible. We are seeing both anecdotal and preliminary data points indicating a hiring slowdown across the economy. How then do workforce development organizations continue to grow and foster employer partnerships? There are three strategies that workforce boards, community colleges, and other partners should implement to maintain robust employer partnerships.
Expand Incumbent Worker Training: Economic uncertainty results in limiting headcounts and new hiring. However, goods must be produced and services delivered. Skilling up existing workers with new skills and competencies creates wins in a short-term planning environment. Incumbent worker training can include not just new technology or skills but also foundational skills such as collaboration and mentoring. If your employer partners are not ready to hire your job seekers, find ways to help them raise the bar for their existing teams.
Working with an employer under a hiring freeze, the Machinist Institute was able to offer training to upskill current workers on how to fabricate a specific part needed in their work. After the successful class, the partner referred two other employers recommending our services.
Create Multiple Relationships within Employer Partners: Economic turmoil may impact your key contacts with employer partners. An acquisition or merger may mean your C-suite advocate leaves a firm, creating a situation where you need to start over to build relationships and trust. Map your key employer partners and ensure you have multiple relationships at the C-suite, VP/Director, and hiring manager levels. These relationships may be managed by multiple people in your organization. This relationship mapping should be intentional and planned.
In a previous role, a wave of mergers between healthcare providers cascaded over our region. The resulting re-organizations, re-assignments, and layoffs disrupted our sector partnership efforts. However, the depth and breadth of our relationships allowed us to weather the storm and access more career opportunities for our job seekers.
Facilitate Peer Learning: Employer roundtables can be an effective and low-cost way to strengthen engagement. It is important not to focus on selling your job seekers or programs but allowing organic conversations between industry partners. This positions workforce partners as trusted messengers and facilitators and increases your own business intelligence within your local economy.
At a recent roundtable we hosted, we heard about the uncertainty of supply chains due to tariff policies, and several of the partners shared how they were adapting and planning to the current situation. While solutions were not immediately available, the sharing of business insights and intelligence was a key takeaway from the event.
The post-COVID job recovery and labor shortages led to more employers tapping into workforce partners to solve talent needs. As experts, we can't be fair-weather friends with our industry partners; we must collaborate together to navigate the choppy waters ahead.
Bio: Ryan Davis, Senior Director of Education for the Machinists Institute advancing pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and incumbent worker pathways. With 20 years of workforce development experience serving the healthcare, manufacturing, construction, maritime, and technology sectors.
