The Skills Shortage - Material Handling & Warehouse Automation in the USA
Industry Overview
The material handling and automated warehouse sectors in North America is the fastest growing market globally. With an estimated warehouse growth from 150,000 to 180,000 globally by 2025 the need for materials handling and automation equipment is growing exponentially. Couple that with the Warehouse Automation and AGV/AMR market estimating global growth from $3.1B to $18B in 2025 and $57B by 2031, it makes the sector one of the fastest growing globally.
Current state of employment
All this growth is fantastic for the American economy, offering employment opportunities both now and in the future. According to Indeed, there is 154,000 Material handling and Warehouse Automation jobs across the US, from Warehouse worker through to Director and VP level opportunities. With unemployment estimated at 3.7%, this means that the competition for candidates within the markets is huge, and candidates can be far more picky in what they look for in a new position – what we call a candidate driven market.
Challenges facing the industry
There are many challenges facing the industry in finding talent, some of which will take years to overcome. One of the biggest factors in the skills shortage within engineering and technical markets is that over the last 10 years the entry of candidates into the engineering and technical marketplace has not kept up with the demand, and the competition between employers has ramped up due to the success and growth of the market and clients. For example on Indeed, the number of candidate resumes added to the site with the MHE and Warehouse Automation sector has fallen on average by 1.2% over the course of 2022 with added jobs increasing by an average of 3%.
Solutions to your hiring needs:
However its not all doom and gloom, the industry has some fantastic opportunities to offer candidates, along with long term employment and growth in their careers due to the above. One of the best ways to overcome the skills shortage and fulfil your recruitment plans is to recruit candidates based not just on skills but their motivations and aspirations. A candidate coming into your business with the correct motivations and aspirations to match both the short and long terms plans of the department and business. Using tools such as Hertzberg, Maslow and Triangle of Needs, you can understand a candidate’s past and future career aspirations and match them correctly to your company, making them a long term investment that will add value both in the immediate role and the future of the company.
How we can help
Luckily for you, recruiting into the industry is something that we have done successfully for many years. Our USP is that we recruit based on motivations alongside skill sets to find you the best talent in the market. We can be your partner for recruitment strategy, talent mapping, providing market data for specific roles, from one offs through to large recruitment drives. We pride ourselves on providing an honest and adaptable approach to our clients, as recruitment is a two way street and there is not a “one size fits all” approach to your needs.
Feel free to reach out to me directly at Callum.Slade@Risetechnical.com, or Rise in general at Enquiry@Risetechnical.co.uk if you would like to explore more about finding a solution that works for you.
