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Inevitable, But Still Sad

An article in this week’s Plastics News details how an injection molding company has been forced to close a plant that it’s CEO characterizes as ‘an excellent performer’. Why? ‘Difficulties recruiting technical and managerial staff’. As we have been discussing for over a year, we are in a labor market that is so tight, there are inevitably going to be winners and losers.

Shuttering an entire plant is pretty much a worst-case scenario, but losing in the battle for talent takes many other forms, such as:

– Losing business because a key sales position is unfilled or underperforming

– Losing business because a plant cannot meet the customer’s production requirements

– Profits reduced due to inefficient production processes or quality issues

– Morale issues caused by a short-handed workforce needing to work long hours & weekends

– Turnover due to working conditions or losing workers based solely on other companies paying more

The days of running an ad and simply choosing the best applicant out of the pile are obviously long gone, yet the perception with many has yet to catch up with the grim reality. The time to act is now, assuming your company would prefer winning.