Recruiting Gen Z for Manufacturing Jobs
The world is changing. So is manufacturing. For decades, the reality has been that manufacturing is a high-tech occupation requiring specialized skills and training. Now public perception is being to catch up.
Changing Views
Manufacturers are having to compete harder than ever to recruit the highly skilled and well-educated workforce they require. One pool of potential employees reaching their working years is Generation Z, which has been growing up in shadow of the millennials.
Members of Gen Z have a better perception of manufacturing than their older counterparts. The 2019 L2L Manufacturing Index, found that members of Generation Z , aged 18-22, are more likely to think of manufacturing as a viable career:
Better still, the survey also found that Gen Z is intrigued by careers in manufacturing. They are 7 percent more likely to consider working in the manufacturing industry and 12 percent less likely to view the manufacturing industry as being in decline, both compared against the general population. These findings may be in relation to Gen Z having a larger exposure to the industry compared to previous generations.
With different priorities and media consumption patterns, Gen Z is immune to the recruiting and marketing techniques that work with previous generations. That’s where Ripley PR, an experienced manufacturing public relations agency can help.
Reaching Gen Z Where It Lives
Where to reach these potential employees? It’s not on Facebook. Young adults in Generation Z have very different social media habits than their older friends and relatives. They use Snapchat and Instagram and turn to YouTube as a source of information, according to Adweek:
On YouTube, Gen Z is looking for something a little different than music-loving millennials: education. Unlike past generations, Gen Z prefers to learn via video. A YouTube video about how to decorate cakes is unlikely to make millennials look twice, but Gen Z is hungry for how-to clips that showcase new products and skills.
Finding Social Media and PR Help
The team at Ripley PR has years of experience in manufacturing public relations and social media management. Call us at (865) 977-1973 if your manufacturing company needs to helping hand when it comes to developing and implementing the right public relations and social media strategies to reach the right potential workers.
