recruitment marketing: recruiting production staff for shift work

Has your vacancy for an operator been open for weeks, even though you know there are plenty of manual workers in the region? Often, it’s not down to a lack of candidates. It’s more likely to be down to what they see about the job. Shift work and repetitive tasks put people off as long as they remain vague. Make them specific, highlight the conditions that matter most to your target audience, and choose channels where production workers actually spend their time. That way, you’ll attract candidates who are actively seeking this kind of work.

This article focuses on production and industrial roles, such as operators, machine operators and production staff working shifts. Are you recruiting in the logistics or maritime sector? The issues there are somewhat different.

Why recruiting for production roles is different from recruiting for office roles

When recruiting for an office role, you often highlight growth, job content and flexibility. With a production role, it’s a different story. Candidates mainly want to know when they’ll be working, how much they’ll earn, how far they’ll have to travel and what it’s like on the shop floor.

Three factors make recruitment more difficult:

• The timetable dictates one’s private life. A 3- or 5-shift rota affects someone’s entire week, including their family. Anyone who doesn’t realise this beforehand will drop out later on.
• The work is difficult to describe. “You operate a production line” doesn’t mean much to an outsider. You need to show what the service actually involves.
• Your target audience is often not actively searching. Many good operators are already in work. They’ll only respond if an advert reaches them at the right time and with the right message.

That is why effective recruitment marketing for the manufacturing sector does not start with the advert. It starts with the question of what matters most to your target audience, and where employers get it wrong in this regard.

Which terms and conditions of employment are most important to operators?

The short answer: pay, working atmosphere, commuting time and work-life balance. Research by the UWV shows that for most jobseekers, a fair wage is the most important factor, followed by a good working atmosphere. Jobseekers also cite a long commute and a poor work-life balance as reasons for not accepting a job. That study focuses on jobseekers in general and not specifically on operators. Nevertheless, it serves as a useful starting point for shift work. Timetables and journey times deserve particular attention here, but use target group data to assess just how important these factors really are to the operators you are looking for.

You can find out exactly which conditions operators value in our article on what operators really value in terms of employment conditions. The next step is this: how to communicate those conditions without shift work becoming a barrier.

Specify the salary, including any allowances

“A competitive salary” means nothing to an operator. Give a salary range and explain how the shift allowance works. Show roughly how much someone takes home in a typical month. The irregular rota will then become part of the overall assessment, rather than just a drawback.

Show what the working atmosphere is like, rather than just talking about it

Every employer describes their team as a great one. A short video of a shift change, a colleague explaining how the night shift is going, or a photo of the canteen at three o’clock in the morning works better. You can find inspiration in our article about social recruitment content that works for the tech sector.

Journey time is one of the conditions

Jobseekers cite a long commute as a reason for not accepting a job. You can find out whether this is an even greater concern for those on rotating shifts by asking your own target audience. You should therefore focus your campaign on a realistic radius around your location. Mention parking, cycle routes or a travel allowance if you offer these.

Which channels reach people who work shifts?

No single channel is always the most effective. However, the figures do show which channels employers prioritise most for roles requiring secondary or lower levels of education. According to a survey conducted by the UWV amongst 4,500 employers in the autumn of 2022 Employers with vacancies for people with secondary or lower levels of education usually opt for Facebook and, to a lesser extent, LinkedIn. For vacancies aimed at people with few qualifications, Instagram is often preferred over LinkedIn. The same source reports that employers most often recruit people with few qualifications through their own staff.

That says something about what employers do, but not necessarily about what works best for your job vacancy. Use it as a starting point and test it against your own campaign data.

Bear in mind the daily routine of your target audience. Someone working shifts won’t be scrolling at the same times as an office worker. You should therefore check your data to see when responses come in, and ring applicants back at times when they’re likely to be available.

How can you prevent staff absences caused by unclear working hours?

Candidates often drop out when they only find out how the rota actually works during the interview. Prevent this by explaining the rota honestly in the job advert. That way, candidates will filter themselves out, and those who carry on will know what they’re getting into.

Don’t promise flexibility that you cannot deliver. In a Manufacturers Alliance member survey of people in operations and production roles, half of them stated that no alternative rota is available for staff on an hourly basis. The other half looked for creative solutions, such as a working week comprising fewer days or flexible start and finish times. Do you offer such options? If so, please list them. If not, please make that clear.

A practical checklist for your job advertisement and initial contact:

1. Please specify the type of rota – for example, 2-, 3- or 5-shift work – and the start times for each shift.
2. Please indicate how often someone works night shifts and weekend shifts.
3. Explain how swapping services and requesting time off work.
4. Describe a typical shift: how long do you spend on one production line, when do you switch tasks, and when do you have a break?
5. Explain how the application process works and how quickly you respond. You can find tips in Explaining the application process in your job advert.

There’s no need to hide the repetitive nature of the work. Some people actually seek peace and quiet, structure and a clear result at the end of their shift. By being honest, you’ll attract exactly those people.

What FosFor can do for manufacturing companies

FosFor combines recruitment, data and marketing, and specialises in blue-collar roles. We look at what your target audience really values. Employers often think that certain benefits are decisive, whilst the data shows that the target audience has different priorities. We translate those insights into your message, your terms and conditions, and your campaign.

We support you from the campaign stage right through to the application and follow-up process, and we handle the shortlisting. On average, clients interview only the 2 to 4 best candidates per month, and vacancies are filled within 3 to 8 weeks on average. This does, however, depend on the role, target group and region. Every week, we discuss the campaigns, results and next steps. The decision on who to hire remains yours. You can read more about our approach on the page about our data-driven approach.

Are you unsure whether your job vacancy for operators is falling short in terms of the rota, the message or the channel? Arrange an introductory meeting and discuss your recruitment needs. Then we’ll work out together where the sticking point lies.