Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK packaging industry was already experiencing a shortage of key skills across many critical packaging jobs. Like many other sectors within UK manufacturing, the disruption to manufacturers and the labour market caused by Covid has exacerbated many existing skill gaps.
While minds and resources have been focused on planning and reacting to the pandemic and Brexit-related changes, new trends and emerging technologies have continued to push existing skills gaps ever wider. But it’s not all bad news, it’s also presented packaging companies with an opportunity to address the gaps and find talent for some of the most in-demand packaging jobs.
As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, how can packaging companies look to address their skills gaps? Has the pandemic created an opportunity to source vital talent to fill new packaging jobs, or should you look at re-skilling your existing workforce?
We’ll look at how a blended approach involving specialist packaging recruiters, internal upskilling and nurturing new talent is the most effective way to solve the skills gap for those critical packaging jobs.
What’s Driving Skill Gaps in The Packaging Industry?
In 2019, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) revealed that the manufacturing industry was facing the biggest skills shortage in 30 years, in part driven by ‘digital disruption’ and the shift to automation and robotics. As companies sought their routes to digital transformation, the need and competition for talent in these new digital jobs increased. Packaging jobs, like other sectors, saw an increased demand for vital digital skills to remain competitive.
Further to the increasing digitisation and automation, new trends within the packaging industry for environmentally friendly, sustainable & compostable packaging and changing consumer behaviour were also creating an increased demand across several packaging jobs and skillsets.
Between 2015 and 2019, sustainably packaged products contributed nearly 55% of the growth within the consumer packaged goods market. And, this growth is unlikely to slow any time soon. According to the 2016 Global Environmental Outlook report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the packaging industry accounts for about 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. With the need to reduce carbon footprints, coupled with the new ‘Plastic Tax’ coming into effect in 2022, the drive for sustainability across the packaging world will only increase. This will continue driving demand and competition for sustainable skills while creating new sustainable packaging jobs.
The continued rise of eCommerce during the pandemic has also been a driver for change over the past year as ever more consumers are buying online. As more consumers shop online, more retailers look to packaging to become part of the consumer experience. Bespoke, personalised, and even high-tech packaging is becoming more popular as a way to use packaging as part of the wider customer experience. Companies use packaging to tell brand narratives and even offer new ways to interact with a company using QR codes and AR experiences built into the packaging.
How To Close Skill Gaps Across Key Packaging Jobs
Hiring Apprentices for shortage packaging jobs?
Apprentices aren’t just for those companies covered by the Government’s apprenticeship levy. Apprenticeships are an excellent way to provide pathways into the packaging industry and many of the most in-demand packaging jobs. The Institute for Packaging Professionals currently recognises over 400 companies as offering some form of an apprenticeship scheme within the packaging industry.
The benefit of hiring apprentices is that you get to build the specialist skills you need, backed by the resources of an educational institution. At the end of it, you get a permanent employee with the skills needed to fill a highly-skilled packaging job. And, having worked on-site throughout their apprenticeship, your new hire will also understand the culture and processes of your company inside out.
You can find more information on registered apprentice training providers in the UK on the Government’s website.
Use a Specialist Packaging Recruitment Partner
Establishing a relationship with a specialist packaging recruitment agency can transform your talent pipeline. Packaging recruiters are out there at the coal-face day-in-day-out, learning about the current state of the industry, the competitive landscape and the most in-demand skills.
Rather than engaging with a recruitment agency on a contingent (pay-per-placement) basis when you need to fill a role, consider partnering with your packaging recruiter on a more proactive basis.
A specialist packaging recruitment agency like Taylor Higson can help you understand the talent landscapes within your sector by creating talent maps across key in-demand skills and packaging jobs. They can nurture passive candidates on behalf of your company and provide a pipeline of experienced candidates for shortage and critical packaging jobs.
A specialist packaging recruiter, like Taylor Higson, can also help you improve your recruitment advertising, job specs and recruitment process. This ensures you can maximise the chances of attracting key talent for those critical and competitive packaging jobs. At Taylor Higson, we can work with your in-house team of recruiters or hiring managers to ensure that you are doing everything you can to stay ahead of the competition when it comes to attracting top talent, from recruitment brand advice to headhunting.
We work with some of the top print and packaging companies in the UK and Europe to help them fill shortage packaging jobs quicker. We use our experience and knowledge of the market to guide you through the end-to-end recruitment process. So why not read some of our case studies and find out how we’ve helped some well-known names make some critical hires.
Upskilling and Reskilling Existing Staff
It’s not just recruitment – the key to filling those shortage packaging jobs could lie within your existing workforce. While it’s not the quickest solution, it could end up solving you two problems at once.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on many employee attitudes towards work and their relationship with work. Research shows that since the start of the pandemic more people than ever are seeking a change of career (or at least a change of company) post-pandemic.
This market instability opens up two opportunities to fill those hard to find packaging jobs:
- You can hire someone looking for a career change and train them to do those skill-short packaging jobs. Much like an apprentice, this route isn’t the quickest, but you end up with a high-performer from another industry trained specifically in the skills you need.
- You can retrain and upskill your existing workforce to close critical talent gaps and retain more of your current staff. By retraining and upskilling, you help your staff to feel valued and challenged as they continue to develop new and valuable skills.
Retraining your existing staff means you don’t lose vital experience to competitors and other industries. Also, you fill some of those crucial new packaging jobs without needing to hire them all externally.
Start Filling Those Vital Packaging Jobs Today
So, closing the skill gaps on those critical packaging jobs won’t just come from one source. Instead, a blended approach is needed. Finding and attracting existing talent, nurturing new talent, and re-training existing talent all play a vital role in filling your open packaging jobs.
If you want a reliable and experienced packaging recruitment partner to create a pipeline of qualified, quality and experienced packaging professionals, we have the knowledge, experience and network to help. From executive-level hires to in-demand packaging jobs in sectors where skills are scarce, we can find you the right candidates.
Taylor Higson is a UK-based specialist print and packaging recruitment agency. We take a proactive approach to finding the very best candidates across our specialist packaging sectors.
To find out more about how we can help reduce your skills gaps and fill your critical packaging jobs, contact us today.
