While U.S. manufacturers, including those who make wood products, struggle to find enough good workers to fill available jobs, there may be a few talent pools that show promise, particularly women. In 2019, men continued to hold the majority of manufacturing jobs across all sectors, with only 29.4 percent of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. held by women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most manufacturing workers – 79.5 percent – were also white. Only 10.4 percent were African American and 6.8 percent were Asian, with 16.8 percent of workers identifying as Hispanic or Latino. (Persons whose ethnicity was Hispanic or Latino may be of any race, according to the Bureau.)
Wood products manufacturers employed even fewer women than U.S. manufacturers overall. Only 20.9% of jobs in wood manufacturing were held by women in 2019. And a larger percentage of workers – 86.2 percent – were white compared to 79.5% in manufacturing as a whole. Only 8.1% of wood products manufacturing jobs were held by blacks in 2019, 1.1% by Asians and 19.9% by Hispanics and Latinos. The latter was the only minority that held jobs in wood products manufacturing at a greater rate, compared to all U.S. manufacturing.
Women have been working in the European pallet sector for a number of years, particularly when it comes to operating automated nailing lines. Attracting more women and minorities would require a focus on expanding diversity and inclusion (D&I).
PwC and the Manufacturing Institute summed up the situation very well in a report issued in 2017 called “All in: Shaping tomorrow’s manufacturing workforce through diversity and inclusion.” The report stated: “For manufacturers, expanding D&I initiatives will likely become more important, as the industry continues to struggle to draw new talent into its ranks during an increasingly tight labor market. Moreover, as a traditionally white- and male-dominated industry, manufacturing faces a relatively steeper climb than others to widen their representation of non-white and female cohorts of the population.”
Among the steps the report outlined for successful D&I initiatives, it emphasized that change must come from the top down to be accepted in any size or type of business. If you’re interested in proactively targeting more diverse workers to fill open jobs, here are some practical strategies on how to find them:
1—Post job ads in non-traditional places such as websites, forums, minority job boards and through associations that cater to specific minorities in your community, city or state.
2—Offer apprenticeships, internships and other training programs that target people from underrepresented groups. Contact your local community college or university and ask for a list of minority organizations. Consider speaking at group meetings to educate women and other minorities about the types of products you manufacture, your manufacturing processes, and the types of jobs you offer.
3—Update the Careers page on your website to make it clear that your company values diversity. If you already have a fairly diverse workforce, include photos or create a video to showcase your minority workers. Consider including comments from them about why they like working for your company or enjoy their jobs.
4—Carefully phrase your job ads to make it clear that you welcome women and other diverse applicants to apply for open positions.
5—Ask your existing employees to refer diverse candidates who might be interested in working for your company.
