The PVF/PHCP industry continues to face steep challenges in terms of talent acquisition. The high number of employees set to retire in the next five to 10 years and a smaller number of people entering the industry’s workforce is creating a deficit many ASA members are fighting to overcome.

;While concerning for distributors, manufacturers and independent manufacturers’ reps, our industry is not alone, which creates an even more intense battle for talent.

Recently, The ManpowerGroup issued its annual Employment Outlook Survey results. The survey has been conducted annually since 1962 and its Net Employment Outlook metric has become a key economic indicator globally. The Net Employment Outlook is calculated by the%age of firms anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting the%age of firms expecting a decrease in hiring activity.

Globally, the initial 2024 Net Employment Outlook is 26% (42% of firms expecting increased hiring minus 16% of firms expecting a decrease in hiring). Another 42% expect no change from 2023.

When broken down by country, the survey results found hiring in the U.S. is expected to be higher than the global average. U.S. had a Net Employment Outlook of 35%, only surpassed by India and the Netherlands, both at 37%.

Furthermore, 70% of employers in the U.S. anticipate difficulty filling open roles. This is slightly less than what employers in the industrials and materials industries reported where 75% of respondents in these industries expect a tough time filling open jobs in 2024.

Clearly, the demand for talent continues to outweigh the supply in our industry.

These statistics underscore a key challenge for ASA members in that they are not vying for talent against only industry competitors but against most companies.

For this reason, it’s prudent to use the tools and resources available through ASA’s PROJECT TALENT.

Tools like the Careers Website Standards Checklist to ensure your website employs best practices in attracting job seekers can help make the most of your recruitment efforts.

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Also, activating the “Has Available Jobs” option in the ASA member portal allows potential candidates visiting supplyindustrycareers.com to easily see which members are actively hiring and link directly to your website for more information. Around 15,000 people visit this site each month because of broad social media and email marketing campaigns. Currently, job seekers can see more than 1,700 member locations across the country currently hiring on this website. Learn more about this feature here.

Questions about these PROJECT TALENT resources or others can be directed to info@asa.net.

PROJECT TALENT is a component of ASA’s Employee Recruitment and Education goal, one of four mega goals included in the Association’s strategic plan. This goal includes the objective of developing and implementing a program to attract and grow the number of talented workers taking advantage of fulfilling career opportunities in the PHCP/PVF industry.