Hiring in the Age of Tariffs: Manufacturing Leaders Sound Off

Though the mismatch between manufacturers trying to hire workers and people looking for jobs has eased since the post-pandemic highs when companies had more than 1 million unfilled positions, there were still 400,000 more jobs than job seekers in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At the same time, President Donald Trump has been pushing trade policies to encourage more companies to shift manufacturing from overseas to the United States. Primarily through tariffs, the Trump administration is trying to make it more expensive to bring goods into the United States, giving companies a large incentive to make more here.

That leaves manufacturers with a tight labor market today that appears to be getting even tighter if the Administration’s policies succeed. Given how hard it is to staff manufacturing operations today, what should manufacturers be doing now to be ready for what’s coming?

We posed that question to a panel of experts:

• Mikaela Gitto, Director of Human Resources at Sentry Equipment, a Wisconsin company that makes testing equipment used by many process manufacturing companies
• Kathy Nunnally Anemogiannis, President of Regions Executive Recruiting LLC, a company that recruits plant managers and top leaders in manufacturing operations
• Ann Franz, Executive Director of NEW Manufacturing Alliance, a Wisconsin non-profit workforce development group that promotes manufacturing jobs to young people

• Promote from within: Finding great candidates already within your companies not only fills open positions, it shows entry level workers that there’s room for growth and advancement in manufacturing careers.
• Start recruiting younger: By the time students have reached college or trade schools, they may already be on a career path. High-school internship or co-op programs or events that promote plant tours to elementary school students can be more beneficial.
• Hire managers who are good with people: Companies have traditionally focused on hiring leaders who can maximize productivity. With the need to recruit more workers, today, that means hiring people who can retain new hires.