Part Time Employees in Manufacturing – More Than Just a Pipedream
When you think of manufacturing, you probably don’t think of part-time workers.
That’s OK – it’s one of those industries that’s been pretty slow to accept the rise in part-time working, and has tended to prefer to keep a tight hold on the full-time employees they have. In fact, part-time workers in manufacturing has gone from making up 14.7% of the workforce in 1991, to 17.5% in 2001, but by 2019 had dropped to 2.1% But when full-time manufacturing employment has also gone from 17.9% to 11.1%, it’s difficult to argue that it’s just a part-time problem.
So, what’s stopping the manufacturing companies in Hampshire hiring part-time workers? And what benefits are they missing out on?
Be the Business Attracting the Best Talent
One of the areas we see a lot of concerns around when hiring part-time workers is working from home. After all, some part-time workers would prefer to work from home at least some of the time, especially if their job doesn’t require them to be physically on the premises at all times. This is something a lot of manufacturing employees would like to see, but not a lot of manufacturing businesses have caught on to yet. Because of that, when candidates are looking for a job in manufacturing, they are much more likely to opt for the company offering flexible and part-time working – meaning these businesses will attract better talent as a result.
Get a Competitive Advantage
Believe it or not, the concept of embracing part-time roles in manufacturing has already been a proven success – in Switzerland. Offering part-time positions, both on the floor and in the office, can make your company a more appealing place to work, helping you attract and retain key team members and giving you a competitive advantage. Employees at all levels – from entry-level manufacturing positions to senior-level managers – might be interested in part-time work if it’s made available. And if a position really does require a full-time presence, you could consider job sharing (allowing two people to share a position). So one person might work from Monday to Wednesday and the other from Wednesday to Friday, with a handoff on the overlapping days. Whichever way you slice it, there is always a way to utilise part-time working, and it will always benefit your business.
But are There Suitable Roles?
In a word – yes! There are dozens of roles within manufacturing that are not only suitable, but perfect for part-time candidates. Especially when you remember that the physical creation of products isn’t all there is to manufacturing. There is also the business side of things, which is chock full of great roles for part-time candidates. At Ten2Two, we’ve helped manufacturing businesses hire all of these roles on a part-time basis:
- Projects, operations, and supply chain managers
- Engineering R&D project managers
- Company secretary & quality assurance managers
- Internal sales managers
- Client services & systems managers
- Distributions managers
- Manufacturing buyers
- Supply chain coordinators
- Buyers/material planners
- Senior customer service representatives
- Consumer insights & analytics leads
- Bookkeepers
- Accountants
- Marketing managers
- Customer account representatives
And those are just a few examples! Because the reality is that while the physical manufacturing process might require some full-time attention, any business requires a wide range of skills and capabilities, and part-time, Hampshire-based professionals are perfect to fill that gap.
At Ten2Two Hampshire, we specialise in recruiting part-time professionals for businesses of all shapes and sizes, including the manufacturing industry. We have a wide range of candidates to suit almost every business function, allowing business owners to see the benefits of hiring great talent, for significantly lower costs.
If you would like to find out more about candidates in Hampshire for part-time manufacturing work, all you have to do is get in touch with us today and book your free consultation.
01252 856862 / louise@Ten2Two.org
