With a real and looming talent shortage in manufacturing, business owners need to consider beefing up their ability to hire and retain women to fill critical roles. Copywriter Kathy Fawcett creates compelling content using proprietary Kelly Services research on what women really want in the workplace.

1. building
their own
corporate
ladder
Women in manufacturing—
a critical talent pool—share their
career decision insights with Kelly®

2. An existing shortage of
skilled talent in manufacturing
has created uncertainty when
it comes to the future supply.
Could women be the key to
overcoming this talent gap?
Despite comprising nearly half of the
U.S. labor force, women continue to be
significantly underrepresented in the
manufacturing industry—but it seems the
solution doesn’t lie in hiring women, but in
retaining them.
First, let’s take a look at the overall
industry factors that affect everyone
in manufacturing.
OVERVIEW /02

3. /03
Turnover rates within the manufacturing
industry are significant
23%
in 20131
80%
While this may seem like good news to the
hiring manager who wants an expanding talent
pool of workers—perhaps by luring them away
from competitors—this same hiring manager
may just as easily lose their new talent to
another company. Retention is difficult across
the board—especially for companies that do
not implement the changes desired by today’s
manufacturing talent.
80 percent of manufacturing employers say they
have moderate to severe shortages of skilled and
highly skilled talent2
And while the numbers
for employee turnover in
manufacturing haven’t changed
in the past few years, the reasons
have. Performance issues and
layoffs, past factors for turnover
in manufacturing, are being
replaced by voluntary quitting.
More and more, employees are
making the conscious, voluntary
decision to leave their employer
rather than being forced out:
9.8%
in 2010
10.9%
in 2012
10.7%
in 2011
11.1%
in 2013
SKILLED TALENT
HIGHLY SKILLED
TALENT
Associate degree or
experience equivalent
Bachelor’s degree or
experience equivalent
1 per BLS
2 Accenture 2014 Manufacturing Skills and Training Study

4. An aging workforce—
accelerated!
Shortages and challenges are magnified
due to an aging workforce—as a whole,
manufacturing talent is nearly 10 percent
closer to retiring than talent in all other
U.S. industries.
Over the age of 45:
51%of all U.S. manufacturing talent
42%of workers across all industries
RETIREMENT
/04

5. The bottom line
The inability to find skilled manufacturing workers negatively
impacts the bottom line. When the necessity to pay overtime
wages goes up, quality, productivity, and efficiency take a hit.
When overtime goes up, quality, productivity,
and efficiency go down.
Overtime Quality Productivity Efficiency
/05

6. Women as the solution
Women could fill the skilled talent gap in manufacturing—but
understanding employee preferences of this demographic, and
ensuring their contentment, is more important than ever.
What women in manufacturing want, what they don’t want, and
what would make them stay with their current employer is no
longer a secret. This critical talent pool has spoken loud and clear
to Kelly. And it’s the companies that will listen—the ones that
invest in their female workforce and implement changes—that will
capture their loyalty, and possibly avoid the unexpected talent
shortages that could hamper their business goals.
The top three factors that
influence the decision of
female manufacturing workers
to remain with an employer
mirror those that initially drew
them in:
56%
42%
Salary and
benefits
Opportunities for
advancement
33% Work-life balance
/06

7. Focusing on what’s important
While 2014 data shows signs of disengagement, women in
manufacturing are choosing to focus on what’s important to them
when making employment decisions.
In manufacturing, women are:
• Closely scrutinizing their employer’s offerings
• Taking a closer look at what lies ahead in their career
• Placing greater importance on expanding their skills
• Redefining their corporate ladder
OVERVIEW
Women are seeking employers
in manufacturing willing to
offer professional growth and
work-life balance—but will they
find these employers?
/07

8. 15,600+
12,250+
9,300+
Insights
For the Kelly Global Workforce Index™
we surveyed:
About the Kelly
Global Workforce Index
(KGWI) report
The annual KGWI brings together
work and workplace insights sourced
from more than 230,000 respondents
from 31 countries across the
Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions.
It takes the form of an annual survey
that canvasses a wide spectrum of
opinions on issues impacting the
contemporary workplace, with a
particular focus on the perspectives
from different generations, industries,
occupations, and skill sets. Topics
covered include:
• Career development and upskilling
• Workplace performance
• Employee engagement and retention
• Social media and technology
global manufacturing-related
industry workers
in the Americas
in the U.S.
/08

9. What follows is
what women in
manufacturing
told us.
/09

10. Disengagement:
Women in manufacturing showed signs of disengagement
in 2014. This could be good news for hiring managers who
are looking to fill their talent gap by hiring women away from
their current organization—but very bad news for the hiring
managers who want to hold onto key employees.
How easily can your female employees be lured away?
In manufacturing, one out
of three female workers
frequently thinks about what
lies ahead for them in the
job market. They give strong
consideration to quitting their
job and leaving their employer.
“My current employer isn’t
investing in my career—
will another company?”
33%
/10

11. Even happily employed female manufacturing workers are
looking for new opportunities on a regular basis, and they are
using social media to build their personal brand.
Among the female manufacturing workers actively looking for
“better” job opportunities and alternatives to their current job—
even when happy in their job—36 percent do so on a daily basis.
When it comes to a job, happiness does not always equal
loyalty or engagement.
Similar to male workers (40%),
nearly four in 10 female
manufacturing workers
actively look for better job
opportunities or evaluate the
external job market even when
happy in their job.
“I like my job, but I’m
always open to a better
opportunity.”
38%
/11

12. When it comes to work, perhaps money isn’t everything—
and neither is climbing the corporate ladder. Most female
manufacturing workers would prefer that their employer offer
opportunities to expand their skill sets—perhaps in preparation for
future advancement, or as a means to greater personal fulfillment.
Women in manufacturing are willing to make some trade-offs
for professional growth and personal fulfillment.
And when their workers gain broader skill sets and develop the
ability for greater work contributions, employers are beneficiaries.
“I want to define my own
corporate ladder.”
Most female manufacturing
workers would prefer
that their employer offer
opportunities to expand
their skill sets.
/12

13. While there’s no mistaking that pay is the main driver of attraction
and retention, workers—both female and male—also prioritize
their professional growth and personal fulfillment. Resoundingly,
many workers would be willing to trade higher pay and/or career
growth or advancement to learn new job skills and achieve a
greater work-life balance.
“Learning new skills is
very high on my list.”
Upskilling
57%
62%
Sensing that skill development
is a “golden ticket” to a better
future, more than half of the
women in manufacturing
are likely to give up higher
pay and/or career growth
or advancement for an
opportunity to learn new skills
More than six in 10 women
in manufacturing view
upskilling as a short-term
career goal
38%
Less than four in 10 would
rather advance to a higher
level than gain new skill sets
/13

14. “Let me spell out exactly
what I want.”
1 | Salary and benefits
2 | Advancement opportunities
3 | Work-life balance
When weighing their employment
options, female manufacturing
workers give greater weight to
nearly all factors measured than
their male counterparts.
87%vs. 84% | Salary/benefits; incentives
71% vs. 65% | Advancement opportunities
66%vs. 61% | Work-life balance options
62%vs. 58% | Training/development options
51%vs. 45% | Knowledgeable colleagues
49%vs. 38% | Flexible work arrangements
48%vs. 37% | Environmental responsibility
35%vs. 27% | Diversity/equal opportunities
30%vs. 27% | Sense of meaning from work
25%vs. 20% | Unexpected perks (on-site gym?)
19%vs. 16% | Corporate sovereignty/goodwill
/14

15. Female workers are extremely open to flexible employment
options. Will this be the defining perk between those who
retain and those who lose skilled talent?
Offering female candidates more money and better benefits
than competing positions will certainly influence their
employment decisions. Beyond compensation, other key factors
play an important role in the decision to choose one employer
over another—including flexible employment options. Achieving
a greater work-life balance is increasingly important to female
manufacturing workers.
“Other employers offer flexibility
and balance. When will my
industry catch up?”
Of the female manufacturing
workers we surveyed:
49%
35%
are likely to forfeit
higher pay or career
growth/advancement
for greater work-life
balance
will forfeit higher
pay or career growth
advancement for a more
flexible work schedule
33%
will forfeit higher
pay or career growth
advancement for the
opportunity to start
their own business
/15

16. Notably, female manufacturing workers place greater emphasis
on job stress and major life-changing events than their male
counterparts.
“With other options out there,
I won’t stay in a stressful job.”
Female manufacturing workers
identified these as factors most
likely to cause them to leave
their organization or change
jobs/careers:
30%
30%
Stress
Major
life-changing
event
26% Current
management
/16

17. An Equal Opportunity Employer © 2015 Kelly Services, Inc. 15-0010
Conclusion
As in every industry, employers in manufacturing need to continually be prepared for changes in
their workforce as their employees—both females and males—frequently explore alternatives.
These sudden moves can create precarious and unexpected challenges for employers.
While the key to preventing your talented workforce from fleeing may lie in some of the
workplace improvements covered in this research, strategic workforce planning is the best
solution: anticipate workforce changes, and stay ahead of shortages by proactively building a
prospective employee network.
For information on how Kelly can help, contact us today.
EXIT
kellyservices.us