If you think about the billboards in areas like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit in 2019 and early 2020, you probably picture ads for liquor, lawyers, and the lottery.
But then COVID hit.
Then, as companies worked their way through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to get to the other side of the pandemic, to what could be considered 鈥渘ormal,鈥� new billboards began to appear 鈥� the likes of which had never been seen before. Suddenly, they displayed help wanted ads from industrial companies of all sizes.
Here鈥檚 how things changed:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that U.S. civilian unemployment was at 3.5% in February 2020. Economists who use the NAIRU macroeconomic metric 鈥� the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment 鈥� typically consider 鈥渇ull employment鈥� in the United States to be 4% to 5%. A simple way to think about it is as the lowest sustainable rate of unemployment that doesn鈥檛 cause inflation. So, in February 2020, the country was easily at full employment.
Just two months later, in April 2020, the BLS reported U.S. unemployment was 14.8%.
Improved but Challenging
The U.S. economy is nothing if not resilient. By December 2020, unemployment declined to 6.7%, then to 3.9% in December 2021, 3.5% in December 2022, 3.8% in December 2023, and 4.1% in December 2024.
And while the billboards began to come down, there was 鈥� and is 鈥� an abiding challenge facing industrial companies across the board. To borrow the title of a 1953 short story that you may recall from high school: 鈥淎 Good Man Is Hard to Find.鈥�
Finding people who can handle today鈥檚 tools is simply not easy, male or female. But it is necessary. Critical. And arguably different from what it was for many years.
Consultancy PwC recently released its 鈥�2024 Workforce Radar Report.鈥� Anthony Abbatiello, the workforce transformation practice leader at PwC U.S., was one of the authors of that study, which included surveying more than 18,000 employees, 2,600 business leaders, and 1,300 HR leaders. The report is both diagnostic in what it sees going on in the workplace and prescriptive for what leaders must do to hire and keep the people their companies need.
You might have thought the word 鈥渃ritical鈥� a couple of paragraphs above is an exaggeration. It is not.
Will You Be Viable?
The PwC workforce report states: 鈥�45% of CEOs in PwC鈥檚 27th Annual Globe CEO Survey told us their organizations won鈥檛 be viable in 10 years if they stay on their current path.鈥�
Abbatiello explains that these executives believe 鈥渃onsolidation will ultimately reduce competitors in their space鈥� 鈥� meaning their company could get consolidated out of existence 鈥� 鈥渙r with the pace of technology, there may be an obsolescence of their business.鈥� What鈥檚 more, he notes many companies are divesting businesses and focusing more on specific operations.
This means: (1) They need to have a strategy for their business that will be sustainable for at least 10 years, and (2) they need a workforce that can execute.
Abbatiello and his colleagues recommend that in order to best position a company, it needs to become a talent magnet and a talent factory, where internal talent development occurs that tracks with the company鈥檚 strategic needs.
The Magnet and the Factory
Abbatiello emphasizes that a company being a talent magnet or talent factory isn鈥檛 a case of being one or the other:
鈥淚t is an 鈥榓nd.鈥� They have to be both. Depending on where they are in terms of their business cycle 鈥� say reinventing their business or being a nascent startup in a growth mode 鈥� they have to use both the dials of talent magnet and talent factory to drive their business.鈥�
Abbatiello acknowledges that a company in growth mode requires the right talent. In these cases, being a magnet is important.
鈥淏ut in more mature sectors, where they may not be doing a ton of hiring, it is really about dialing up the talent factory piece 鈥� but that doesn鈥檛 mean they can abandon being a talent magnet.鈥�
Being a talent magnet means making the company a desirable place to work by publicly emphasizing its external brand, employee value proposition, and other company characteristics with which people would want to associate.
A talent factory is where learning platforms and leadership training benefit employees and are tailored to benefit the overall organization.
Abbatiello puts it plainly: 鈥淭here is a fight for in-demand skills. Skills are the new currency.鈥�
You want to get them (magnet). You want to maintain and optimize them (factory).
Not Easier Soon (If Ever)
As it says in the PwC report:
鈥淭he battle for top talent is fierce, and there鈥檚 no reason to think that 鈥榯alent wars鈥� will end anytime in the next three years. In fact, in an ever more complex world with ever more complex technology available, the people who have the right skillsets, mindsets, and attitudes will likely continue to be in high demand.鈥�
While many company leaders think learning and growth opportunities are both readily available for their employees, the PwC survey shows otherwise: Only 47% of employees say their company offers adequate opportunities to learn new skills, and 30% don鈥檛 think their companies offer upskilling opportunities. Instead, they go outside to find those skills.
Said another way: Fewer talent factories exist than people think.
Offering the workforce the means to build a future generates positive results: Employees are 1.7 times more likely to stay and are 2.3 times more engaged in their work.
And they even contribute to making the company a talent factory: They are 2.4 times more likely to recommend their company to other people.
What Do People Actually Want?
One of the things the PwC researchers discovered is a tendency for leaders at organizations to inaccurately assess what they鈥檙e offering their workers. That is, while 96% of business leaders think what they offer is special, 25% of their employees disagree.
Abbatiello explains, 鈥淥rganizations respond to what they believe is what the workers need and are asking for versus looking at preferences of the different demographics or archetypes or personas of the workforce.鈥�
For example, PwC researchers found that there are differences in what people who make less than $75,000 per year want compared to those who are making more (although Abbatiello points out that everyone wants to make more money). What鈥檚 more, not having a clear understanding of the preferences can cost a company more money than it needs to spend; Abbatiello says they鈥檝e found, for example, that some companies, not understanding the preferences of their workers, can overspend from $1,000 to $3,000 per annum on health and welfare benefits. It may look good to them, but it may not be valued by the workers.
Create a Talent Architecture
While 鈥渄emographics or archetypes or personas of the workforce鈥� may sound rather complex, if not convoluted, having a deeper understanding of their people is highly beneficial to a company.
PwC recommends that companies build a talent architecture that organizes the skills and abilities of its workforce. This is extremely useful for training and developing personnel to meet current and future needs: If someone has an aptitude in one area (such as IT), that person may be better suited for training in a particular area (like AI) than someone without that orientation.
Know the Discipline 鈥� and Critical Thinking
What are important attributes for someone looking for a job, whether it is at an entry level or a lateral move? Abbatiello says having 鈥渉ard skills鈥� within a discipline 鈥� proficiency in a particular domain (think equipment operation or CAD software) 鈥� is important now and always will be.
But something is changing:
鈥淲hat is apparent today is that softer skills are becoming harder: Critical thinking, problem-solving, empathy, interpersonal communication, agility, resilience 鈥� those are the skills more attractive today. We need those softer skills more than the technical, harder skills.鈥�
This is not a contradiction vis-a-vis having domain expertise. Rather, as changes in technology accelerate 鈥� AI, automation, etc. 鈥� the need for people to understand and adapt to those changes grows. The ability to deal with changing demands and needs is becoming increasingly important. Resilience trumps rigidity.
Return to Office: How Come?
One consequence of the COVID pandemic in the United States was the explosive growth in the number of people who abandoned their offices and worked from home.*
Now, an increasing number of companies have decided that since they have the space, desks, equipment, and other amenities, it is back to the office.
Anthony Abbatiello, workforce transformation practice leader, PwC U.S., says, 鈥淚 believe in physical location.鈥�
He acknowledges, 鈥淚鈥檓 an extrovert. I enjoy bouncing ideas off colleagues, intellectual debate. I like the collaboration. For me, that works.鈥�
But he adds an important caveat: 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 mean that鈥檚 a strategy.鈥�
While some companies simply mandate it, Abbatiello believes there must be a strategic purpose behind returning to the office.
鈥淢andates don鈥檛 work,鈥� he says. 鈥淛ust saying 鈥榞et back to the office鈥� doesn鈥檛 work because some people are going to spend more time trying to circumvent the process rather than actually working.鈥�
As a result, productivity can be lost.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 a benefit through collaboration or idea exchanges, and we want to use physical location as a way to do that, that makes sense. Make it transparent to the employees so they understand what it is going to bring the company.鈥�
Abbatiello says that it isn鈥檛 usual for him to walk though client organizations and see 鈥減eople with headphones on, sitting in front of a screen, not talking to peers or asking questions.鈥�
What鈥檚 more, he鈥檚 found that companies housed in large buildings tend to have Zoom calls rather than having workers walk to another floor to meet with people.
鈥淧rovide meaning and purpose for being back in the office beyond free food on Wednesdays,鈥� he says.
* The PwC 鈥�2024 Workforce Radar Report鈥� found that workers who couldn鈥檛 work from home 鈥� 鈥渟hift workers on the plant floor, the people climbing utility poles, flying planes or ringing up merchandise鈥� 鈥� are no different than office workers when it comes to flexibility. While those able to work from home were able to achieve greater flexibility, that wasn鈥檛 necessarily the case for those whose jobs don鈥檛 lend themselves to that situation.
Still, PwC has some suggestions that companies can offer on-site workers:
Flexible scheduling and start times
Shift swapping
Varied shift durations
PwC found that only 48% of people who work on-site think their work schedules are flexible enough to meet their personal needs. In contrast, 67% of office workers say they have that flexibility.
Consider the Startup Alternative
A few days before we spoke with Alisyn Malek, General Motors laid off dozens of workers in an assessment that was going to run for weeks. Last November, the company laid off about 1,000 salaried and hourly employees. In August, it laid off more than 1,000 people in its software and services organization.
Malek began her career at GM as a design release engineer and vehicle systems engineer for advanced charging systems. She later did a stint at the corporation鈥檚 venture capital arm, GM Ventures. In 2017 she co-founded May Mobility, a company developing and deploying autonomous vehicle tech. May Mobility鈥檚 investors include Toyota and BMW. She went on to found Middle Third, a company dedicated to helping startups in the mobility space and early and mid-career professionals who venture into the startup sphere.
Reflecting on the GM announcement, Malek, who is working to attract talent to Michigan, describes it as 鈥渇rustrating.鈥�
Malek says, 鈥淭hey couched it as 鈥榩erformance reviews.鈥� I know that when I was at GM, I had at least two leaders who would have liked to have 鈥榩erformance reviewed鈥� me right out of there.鈥�
It is worth noting that Malek has attained accolades, including being named a Top Ten Female Innovator to Watch by Smithsonian Magazine and an Automotive News All-Star 鈥� clearly the sort of person you鈥檇 want in your organization.
Given the churn happening in large corporations like GM, where people are being let go for these companies to cut costs in a major way, Malek says an alternative for some people may be to go work at a startup.
Although many startups are associated with developing software programs and apps, Malek points out that plenty are working on what she refers to as 鈥渉ard tech.鈥�
鈥淭here is a ton of attention in the manufacturing space.鈥�
While people who have recently graduated or have decades of experience may think going to a startup is risky and prefer getting into a larger company or staying in one, she notes, 鈥淧eople used to consider big companies because they were stable, that your job was guaranteed.鈥�
Clearly, that鈥檚 changed. Big or small, established or newly launched, 鈥淚t鈥檚 all risky at this point.鈥�
But she thinks that there are great opportunities in the startup route. For one thing, these small companies are looking for self-starters who want to get things done. This can be particularly valuable for those who are pigeonholed in their current job.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have someone looking over your shoulder all the time,鈥� she says.
While there might be some concern about benefits, she says that a startup that has raised outside investments or has signed up a good customer typically provides a package that includes benefits like health insurance and vacation.
What is typically not included is a 401K. Instead, employees often receive an equity grant so they can buy into the company they鈥檙e helping to create.
How does one find a startup opportunity? Simply Googling for startup meetings in your city is a good way to start. Cities and states are increasingly interested in having startup companies in their locales, so you may be surprised at the available resources.
One thing to consider about finding a job with a startup versus a big corporation: According to Resume Builder, 82% of larger companies use AI to review resumes. But, if you鈥檙e at a meetup for startups, you can probably talk with someone that you may go on to work with.
To read the rest of the Workforce Issue of MT Magazine, click .
