Blogs by tag - Industrial

​Over the past year, we have discussed ways that a business could become more attractive to employees. How Industry bodies are reacting to the skills shortage and what solutions they are offering, and this time last year we looked at what our candidates had to say. On the back of the blog's success, we've decided to do a follow up with fresh survey results, and the results are interesting... ​Looking back to last year we were all talking about the prices of petrol to pasta rising - now we're discussing price increases and inflation as it's our 'new normal'. Everything is increasing still. ​So, if you’re a business that is already working to tight margins what can you do to be a more attractive employer? Is increasing salary the only competitive edge a business can offer still, or are people looking for something different now?​The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) (May 2023) has said that the UK employment rate was estimated at 75.9% in January to March 2023, 0.2 percentage points higher than October to December 2022. The increase was driven by part-time employees and self-employed workers.​Key Points:The more timely estimate of payrolled employees for April 2023 shows a monthly decrease, down 136,000 on the revised March 2023 figures, to 29.8 million. This is the first fall in total payrolled employees since February 2021, more data due next month.The unemployment rate for January to March 2023 increased by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter to 3.9%. The increase in unemployment was largely driven by people unemployed for over 12 months.The economic inactivity rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points on the quarter, to 21.0% in January to March 2023. In February to April 2023, the estimated number of vacancies fell by 55,000 on the quarter to 1,083,000. Growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 5.8% and growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 6.7% among employees in January to March 2023. In real terms (adjusted for inflation), growth in total and regular pay fell on the year in January to March 2023, by 3.0% for total pay and by 2.0% for regular pay.There were 556,000 working days lost because of labour disputes in March 2023, up from 332,000 in February 2023.We re-ran our survey with the same questions so we could compare the year-on-year results - there has definitely been a shift in mood. Let's take a look...​When looking for a new role what attracts you to a job the most?This is quite a significant shift. The swing from salary to career opportunities could indicate that people are thinking about their future. A salary increase will always be welcomed but at what point does that cap? Price increases aren't improving, everything is costing more. ​Talk about the great career opportunities that you have in-house with your current staff, training staff takes time which is effectively money so promoting within is not only better on your bottom line but it’s always a fantastic talking point when recruiting. ​Spotting, training, and nurturing existing talent within your own business is attractive. Working for a company that likes to promote from within can create a strong sense of loyalty and it's exciting to know that a job has become available because you promote from within.​'Guarantee of future career opportunities'​Which perks are businesses offering vs. Which perks do candidates find attractive?​We can see from the below that things have changed in terms of what employers are offering - this is great news. It looks like a lot of employers have taken some really positive steps to make themselves more attractive to candidates.​​'A career job with good training and a nice salary'​​​'Guaranteed regular hours on a day shift'​You can’t always help restrictions or competition with salary, but you can highlight why you’re a great business to work for. Just because somewhere has a high salary or maybe joining bonuses doesn’t mean their staff turnover won’t be high as well.​Think about your positives and highlight those, even something as simple as free parking can make a big difference to a household budget.​If you’re looking to talk about how you could make the most of your business's best points contact the team today.​

The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will be increasing this April, offering workers aged 16 and over a higher hourly wage. As a busy Hiring Manager, you’ll need a quick summary of the changes and how this could affect your business – this is the blog for youNMW and NLW Increase announcementThe National Living Wage (NLW) will rise to £10.42 from 1 April 2023, an increase of 92 pence or 9.7%​The Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations ensure the NLW continues on track to reach the Government’s target of two-thirds of median earnings by 2024. The recommendations were unanimously agreed by Commissioners and accepted in full by the Government.​The increases announced in November will support the wages and living standards of low-paid workers at a time when many are feeling increased pressure from a rising cost of living. They are recommended against a backdrop of a tight labour market where unemployment is at record lows and vacancies remain high as businesses compete to recruit and retain staff.​Bryan Sanderson, Low Pay Commission Chair, said:​'The rates announced today include the largest increase to the NLW since its introduction in 2016 and will provide a much-needed pay increase to millions of low-paid workers across the UK, all of whom will be feeling the effects of a sharply rising cost of living. For a full-time worker, today’s increase means nearly £150 more per month.The tightness of the labour market and historically high vacancy rates give us confidence that the economy will be able to absorb these increases.Businesses also have to navigate these economically uncertain times and by ensuring we remain on the path to achieve our 2024 target, employers will have greater certainty over the forward path.These recommendations have the full support of the business, trade union and academic representatives who make up the Commission.'Alongside the NLW, the Commission recommended significant increases in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for younger workers. The 21-22 Year Old Rate will increase to £10.18, narrowing the gap with the NLW and leaving this age group on course to receive the full NLW by 2024. NMW rates for 18-20 and 16-17 year olds and apprentices will increase in line with the NLW increase of 9.7% in recognition of the tight labour market and strong demand for labour in youth-friendly sectors.​NMW and NLW Increases in 2023The Government has confirmed that:​The National Living Wage (for over 25-year-olds) will increase by 9.7% from £9.50 to £10.42.The National Minimum Wage will rise across all age groups, including:​​Rate from April 23Current rate(April 22 - March 23)IncreaseNational Living Wage£10.42£9.509.7%21-22 Year Old Rate£10.18£9.1810.9%18-20 Year Old Rate£7.49£6.839.7%16-17 Year Old Rate£5.28£4.819.7%Apprentice Rate£5.28£4.819.7%Accommodation Offset£9.10£8.704.6%​April 1st Falls on a Saturday – How Will That Work?Thorn Baker Group's Payroll Manager Emma Craig has confirmed that it will be payable on the next ‘pay reference period’.So if you run a weekly payroll (this will be most likely if you hire temporary workers) the NWM and NLW will apply as follows:​The pay reference period will start on the 3rd of AprilFirst payment where the worker receives their increased wage will be 14th of April​​Spring Statement: UpdateThe 2023 Spring Statement highlights include; a £27bn tax cut for businesses to drive investment and growth, and a trio of freezes to aid low-income households with cost of living and soaring energy costs.​The UK will no longer enter a recession this yearHunt also announced that the UK economy is on track for growth, with inflation halved this year and debt falling.Confirmed that there will be no new tax rises within the 2023 Spring Budget.Migration package hopes to attract skilled construction workersAbolishing the lifetime allowance, and increasing the Annual Allowance from £40,000 to £60,000 as an incentive to keep highly-skilled workers in the labour market.‘Returnerships’ apprenticeship, targeted at older workers,A new migration package that includes adding five construction occupations to the Shortage Occupation List and expanding the range of short-term business activities that are covered under the UK’s six-month business visit visa offer.The Energy Price Guarantee has been extended for a further three monthsIt was confirmed that the previously unveiled extension will save the average family around £160 on their energy bills and cost the Treasury around £3bn.To further help it was announced that the planned 11 pence rise in fuel duty will also be cancelled, maintaining last year’s 5p cut for another twelve months, saving a typical driver another £100 on top of the £100 saved so far since last year’s cut.We're holding NMW & NLW consultations in your area free of charge! If you’d like to discuss further how these changes will apply to your current or future supply of temporary workers you can book an appointment with your local branch right here.

Money is definitely a hot topic right now. Whether it’s salary, the value of the pound or how much we’re now paying for food and heating – everyone is thinking about it. With that in mind in this blog, we’re looking at average pay rates from job boards across the country for our hottest jobs. How do they compare? Keep reading...​​​Two-thirds (64 per cent) of UK businesses say more employees are asking for pay rises, research has found.​​Salary calculators and information around job pay rates are available online via multiple job boards, we get that as busy hiring Managers you won’t always have time to look into each job. Below we have collated information from the latest Indeed salary checker for three hot jobs in the industrial sector. If you currently advertise on Indeed and haven't taken a look at their Hiring Insights tool we recommend that you do, it has some great information available for you to benchmark where your jobs are in the current market.Both tools are interesting and whilst they can give you a good base idea of pay rates being advertised it would still be best to speak with your Recruiter about the end pay rate – these can differ from job board reports.​My team have plenty of examples where a pay rate needed to be raised. This has a lot of contributing factors, area, duration, urgency etc.​And it’s easy to ask why pay rates weren’t higher, to begin with, but the reality is projects/ orders/ tenders are processes that have been done months if not, in some cases, years in advance when we were in a completely different economic time. The value of the £ has changed.​If you’d be interested in getting more information regarding salaries and rates specifically for your jobs, please get in touch with the team and we can go through this with you.​In a couple of weeks, we will be sending you a survey to get your feedback on this blog a key part of it will be to gauge our communities desire for a salary guide based on our own data. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to give your opinion, it helps us to shape to content we send to you.​Warehouse OperativeProduction OperativeFLT Driver​As mentioned at the beginning of this blog these are averages based on pay rates advertised and whilst they're great as a starting benchmark they could be different to what is currently being paid. If you’d be interested in getting more information regarding end salaries and rates specifically for your jobs, please get in touch with the team and we can go through this with you.​​

During peak season, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the (potential) chaos. Do we have enough workers to complete our orders? Have we planned enough holiday cover? In this blog, we’ll share our top 3 tips to ensure you’re ahead of the curve and hiring the best staff for your site during peak.​COVID-19 certainly brought new challenges to the jobs market, it’s changed what workers are looking for in a job and that change seems to be here to stay. The days of posting a job and having applicants galore are long gone. The pandemic gave people time to look at what they really want from their employer, in our previous blog, Skills Shortage: What Are Candidates Really Looking For? we shared the results from our candidate survey that went to over 40,000 people and the results are interesting, if you haven’t already read the blog take a look today.​And the latest Labour Force Survey (LFS)estimates that over the previous quarter, there was an increase in the employment rate, while unemployment and economic inactivity rates decreased.​The UK employment rate increased to 75.9%The number of full-time employees increased during the latest three-month period to a record high.The most timely estimate of payrolled employees for June 2022 shows a monthly increase, up 31,000 on the revised May 2022 figures, to a record 29.6 million.The unemployment rate for March to May 2022 decreased by 0.1 percentage points in the quarter to 3.8%.The number of job vacancies from April to June 2022 rose to 1,294,000The data is showing what businesses are feeling right now – everyone is busier without enough staff to get everything done. We all know that getting a head start in terms of hiring for peak season is a good business move, but with labour shortage still being a real issue what can you do to stay ahead of the curve?​Have a Plan in PlaceDo you have a hiring strategy in place? Being prepared for the peak hiring spike can ensure that your candidates get the right first impression of your business. Establishing best hiring practices for your business is a great place to start and will make the process far less stressful.Remember it’s a candidate market. If you want to hire the best, you’re going to have to treat them with respect, flexibility and sensible job offers.Focus on why working for your company is great. The support, flexibility, improved technology, training budget etc. Whatever it is you are doing well, shout about it! Can you offer different shift times? A selection of our clients has already done this, and they’ve seen great results. By changing their previous hours to suit school hours as well as part-time they’ve attracted more staff and retained them. Building an online community is a great way to attract staff. Pay rates will always be an attraction but it doesn’t always compensate for being happy in your job.Spend some money on your recruitment. Whether that is with agencies like us, advertising, specialist job boards, sponsored Facebook adverts or an internal refer a friend scheme etc. A free advert on Indeed is not going to get you the staff you need.​Do You Have a Solid On-Boarding Process?Take a look at your current process. This is more than just when someone walks through the door, what experience do they have leading up to that? From application to signing a contract each step of your process is an opportunity to show what kind of business you are. Delays in response, information, interview dates etc. don’t give a good impression of what it’s like to work for your business.​A big part of well-being from a jobseeker’s perspective is a feeling of being wanted, unfortunately, some companies are failing to address it.​During the pandemic, some employers needed support and hired quickly, as a result, poor habits started to creep in. For example, delays getting back to candidates with interview feedback and with offer letters or contracts. These might seem like small things, but they feed into the sentiment of feeling wanted.If you’re not making a good impression in the recruitment and onboarding process, the reality is that people will leave and go to your competitors who are doing it better.​Many candidates are getting two or three offers at the same time, so emotion comes into not only the recruitment process but the pre-start phase and first days in the job.​Make the Most of a Recruitment SpecialistWork with an agency. Make sure they are promoting your business (not just the job). At Thorn Baker Construction we focus more on what staff are looking for now. Working with your recruiter will ensure you get the best outcome, it’s what we do all day, make the most of our knowledge and connections.Enlisting the help of a staffing firm can aid in sourcing top candidates and developing a strong talent pipeline. Staffing firms can source candidates from a vast talent pool. Leave the candidate sourcing to the experts so you can focus on onboarding.Competing with other businesses. This is something that’s not always thought about but if you’re already working with an agency communicate with them what your own plans are. You will undoubtedly end up in competition with each other on jobs – and in the end, you’ll end up spending more money than you need to.​Update: Survey Results​Firstly we'd like to say thank you to everyone that took part in our survey, it was sent to over 45,000 people we're delighted to share the results with you.​​We've added some key findings to our video below, overview includes:​​70% of businesses surveyed said that they do plan ahead for their hiring peaksAnd they rated the effectiveness of their plan to deal with potential issues as 7.5/10100% have an onboarding process in place. And give it a rating of 4.5/5Over 70% said that they're finding it more difficult to hire this yearAnd that's why over 90% said that their plan includes working with a recruitment agency.​When asked If you could add one thing to your current onboarding process what would it be? The top 3 answers were:​​More time to plan the trainingBigger team to deliver the trainingMinimise the paperwork involved.​From a worker's perspective, we got some really interesting feedback, including:​They're Looking for Feedback​A large portion of responses stated that they don't always get a response at all when they apply for a new job.They'd like feedback as to why they weren't suitable for a role.For responses to be personal, where possible to be a call not just an automated responseSolution: Take the time to call applicants and discuss the role as much as possible, if you're dealing with a high volume (lucky you) then ensure that the people who won't be successful receive an email. They may not be right for you today but that doesn't mean they won't in future, a strong and professional process can ensure that applicants would come back to you.​A Speedier ProcessA shorter time between application and feedback (when they receive it)​Maybe it's time to review your application paperwork. It's easy to have duplicated questions if you have extensive paperwork. Take some time to look through and see where you could trim down the process.​Solution: Research from Indeed states that 66% of candidates could be applying from their mobile phones - does your application work on mobile? Make it clear on your job advert what your current recruitment process is, how long does it usually take for someone to hear back from you? How long does it normally take for them to start their new job?​At Thorn Baker Industrial Recruitment we’re absolutely committed to improving the recruitment process and helping businesses during this peak season and labour shortage.​We work with businesses that struggle to hire Warehouse Operatives, Pickers and Packers and FLT Drivers every day. Contact the team today to find out how they’re already helping your competitors and how they could support your hiring needs. Or complete our enquiry form here and we'll contact you.

Recently we have discussed ways that a business could become more attractive to employees. How Industry bodies are reacting to the skills shortage and what solutions they are offering, now it’s time to look at what our candidates have to say. In this blog, we will share our survey results.​Times are getting harder for all of us, from petrol to pasta everything is getting more expensive. While the below figures do suggest that more people are coming back to employment, we still need more staff.​So, if you’re a business that is already working to tight margins what can you do to be a more attractive employer? Is increasing salary the only competitive edge a business can offer?​The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) (January to March 2022) has shown that over the quarter there was a decrease in the unemployment rate, while the employment and inactivity rates increased.​Key points:​The UK employment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points in the quarter to 75.7% but is still below pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels.Total job-to-job moves increased to a record high of 994,000, driven by resignations rather than dismissals.No. of payrolled employees for April 2022 showed a monthly increase in March 2022, to a record 29.5 million.For the first time since records began, there are fewer unemployed people than job vacancies.The number of job vacancies from February to April 2022 rose to a new record of 1,295,000Our survey was sent to over 40,000 people and we’re delighted to share the results with you – from key job attractors to favoured benefits and perks.​Our first question might be the most obvious but it’s an interesting result...​When looking for a new role what attracts you to a job the most?Not really a surprise that salary hit the top of the list. But what’s interesting is that career opportunities came a pretty close second.​​If you’re a business that is already working on a tight budget you can’t always amend the salary but you can change the positives about your business that you promote. Talk about the great career opportunities that you have in-house, training staff takes time which is effectively money so promoting within is not only better on your bottom line but it’s always a fantastic talking point when recruiting.​It’s attractive to potential staff to know that a job has become available because you promote from within.​‘I’m looking for training and long-term career opportunities.’And the below graph backs this point up.​When asked which they would rate the most attractive feature when applying for a job (bar salary) career opportunities were the clear winner.​​Which perks are businesses offering vs. Which perks do candidates find attractive?This is quite interesting when you look at the results there are some surprises (and some that aren’t) and on the surface, there seems to be a mixed bag of responses but if you look a little closer there could be some quick wins for your business.​​A couple of things stand out from the above, the first being Refer a Friend. This is something that we as a business do and we have found that it gets quite a lot of traction (read about it here). It’s something simple to organise and implement, it boosts your online content, and it rewards your current workforce. Sounds like a win.​The second is paid training. We recently shared with you some resources currently available to help with training in our blogSkills Shortage: What Training is Available? Money is going to be tight for everyone for some time it seems, so when you look at the advantages of making the most of training help and support it makes sense.​We already know that workers are looking for career advancement opportunities and if they’re currently working for your business you know their potential, make the most of this and help give your current workers the chance to train, progress and ultimately spread the word about how fantastic it is to work for your business.​The third is the staff canteen. Now, this isn’t always possible, it’s dependent on your site so it’s not going to apply to everyone. If you do have one on-site it’s clear from the above that you should be talking about it, and if not what could be done?​Maybe you’re on an Industrial estate or on a site, is there a great cob/roll/barm (depending on your location) van nearby? A breakfast cob can be a great thing on a Friday we all know that especially when the weather gets colder. If you’ve got one nearby why not talk about it, or if there’s one you can strike up a deal with to be there at certain times why not ask.​To summarise I would say to look at what data is telling us or better yet run an internal survey as well. Who better to ask than your workers?​You can’t always help restrictions or competition with salary, but you can highlight why you’re a great business to work for. Just because somewhere has a high salary or maybe joining bonuses doesn’t mean their staff turnover won’t be high as well.​Think about your positives and highlight those, even something as simple as free parking can make a big difference to a household budget.​If you’re looking to talk about how you could make the most of your business's best points contact the team today.

The happier your employees are, the more successful your company will be. This isn’t a new or revolutionary statement – but it's true. Employee engagement is a long-term hot topic; however, it’s usually spoken about in office-based roles. In this blog, we'll be looking at how employee engagement can be improved in an industrial workplace.​​​Studies show that happy employees are more dedicated and productive than their unhappy colleagues – and they’re more likely to stay in their current role.​Sounds too good to be true? There have been lots of studies and reports on workplaces that have shown that an employee’s happiness has a direct correlation with a business’s bottom line.​A study by the Harvard Business Review explains that disengaged workers had:​37% higher absenteeism49% more accidents60% more errors and defects.Any of these can affect your business's budget…​On the surface, the word ‘happy’ might seem a little idealistic to associate with the booming world of business and profits. But beneath it, the word ‘happy’ offers all kinds of positive corporate meanings: better production, better safety, and better attendance.​Happy Workers:​Work harder because they appreciate their workplace and want to contribute.Have fewer accidents because they’re more focused.So, a happy work environment attracts good people and helps the people who work for you to do their best for the company. Great! But what changes could you apply in your company to make this possible?​Updating the toilets, lockers and canteen facilities.Removing unnecessary PPE.Making Improvements to the heating.Soup days.Kevin King, Manufacturing and Technical Manager commented:​'I joined Armitages in 2018 tasked with taking the business forward in a difficult and uncertain economy whilst working with tight margins. It was clear a number of changes were needed.​It was immediately clear that staff welfare was an area that needed improving when we asked the workforce how we could make things better. Essentially the employees talked & we listened! We wasted no time in modernising the toilets, canteens, addressing the heating in the winter, removing unnecessary PPE so the staff could be more comfortable when they work etc.​But we wanted to go further - so this year, on several occasions, we’ve let the staff finish work slightly early (paid), bought everyone lunch when a big order was completed and ice creams during the summer heatwave.Little things make all the difference, and that hopefully will help us attract better staff and retain the best of them.' In many Industrial workplaces, especially during peak seasons, it’s essential to understand the importance of employee engagement - it aligns with retention and productivity for your business. It’s not realistic to expect your employees to be engaged if they’re not happy in their work.​Here at Thorn Baker Industrial Recruitment, it's something we take seriously - every year we take part in the best companies survey and we're proud to say that we've been rated at the highest level (3 stars!).​best companies describe workplace engagement as:​'When people are engaged they feel connected to each other and to the aims of the organisation they work for. They believe in a shared purpose and feel they play an important part in fulfilling it.An engaged workforce is more motivated and productive because people take pride in what they are doing and have faith in those around them. This leads to better working relationships, greater collaboration and ultimately a more successful organisation.'​If you’d like to discuss ways to help improve your current employee engagement, or how we could help to take some of the pressure from your recruitment drives - contact your local branch today.