What the Future Holds
“I believe the pandemic has reset the focus on what really are the essential jobs and brought these jobs more into the limelight, but more needs to be done. There is thankfully now more interest and funding available from federal, state and county grants for new apprenticeship programs, specifically aimed at getting more people into the skilled trades, including women and minorities,” Hardie said. Today’s auto recyclers need to recognize that they have to provide the training and opportunities for employees to develop their skills in order to grow in the ability to be successful in the automotive recycling industry. They also need to work together to re-energize and re-establish the pipeline of prospective workers between high school and their two-year colleges. Bottom line, if auto recycling companies intend to hire top talent, they have to be prepared to pay a rising com- petitive wage, provide tangible and intangible benefits, develop programs to increase shared experiences amongst employees, and redesign your workforce model to incor- porate a mentorship program.
Graziano stressed that trade schools are trying to entice more people to join these fields, however they have an industry image problem.
“Trade schools, industry associations and companies should be collaborating to market the professions,” Gra- ziano said. “They should be highlighting today’s trade/ skilled workforce opportunities, advancements in tech- nology, career pathing, morale and culture campaigns which show satisfied workers in their roles today and what innovations could come in the future in these fields.” These efforts require collaboration within organizations between HR, marketing, communication, as well as schools and associations. In addition, auto recycling companies should be pro- active in recruiting new people, and especially to reward, retain and retrain the valued employees they already have. “Talent shortages impede productivity, cause missed dead- lines, reduce revenue and expose companies to costly and dangerous safety concerns,” Graziano said. “All of this fuels poor morale which perpetuates recruiting challenges. Creative, proactive measures are in order to meet today’s complex skilled workforce challenges.”
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Maura Keller is a seasoned writer, editor, and published author, with more than 20 years of experience. She frequently writes about recycling and business-related topics
for various regional and national publications.
Automotive Recycling
May-June 2021 // 41
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