Amy Oskirko, Quality Manager, Operon Resource Management09.13.17
If you’re a medical device manufacturer struggling to fill open positions, you’re not alone. This year, the unemployment rate hit 4.4 percent for the first time since before the recession, which saw rates more than double that. In cities with thriving medical manufacturing industries, such as Los Angeles and Minneapolis, the jobless rates are even lower—3.8 percent and 3.2 percent respectively in May, for example.
When jobs were more scarce, manufacturers could easily attract employees, including graduates of four-year colleges. “During the downturn, we really had our pick,” said William Pratt, vice president of Kinamed, based in the greater Los Angeles area. Now, jobseekers simply have more options from which to choose. [Editor’s note: Pratt joins other industry peers at the MPO Summit 2017 to discuss this very issue during a panel session on October 19th in San Diego. Get more information about the session and the event at www.mposummit.com.]
Fortunately, device makers and educational institutions are identifying solutions to develop the workforce and keep productive employees from fleeing the industry.
1. Invest in Your Best Employees
“I think in about six months, employers will start poaching workers from other manufacturers, at least in our area,” predicted Pratt. How do you retain your best people? “Ultimately it will be about wages,” he said. “You're just going to have to give people some kind of pay increases.”
But quality of life at work also matters. For larger companies, community service projects and team-building events are wise investments. Even simple things like monthly lunches to celebrate birthdays can help employees feel like there’s a “social fabric” at work, he explained. “Surprisingly, some companies still have very punitive atmospheres, and that can be very stressful,” he said. “If you're trying to get skilled employees from those places, you're probably going to have good luck.”
2. Lend Expertise to Local Organizations
Align yourself with local stakeholders in the industry. For example, Pratt serves on a workforce development board and the Community College Consortium for Bioscience Credentials. He also advises the biotech programs at two community colleges and is an advisor to the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California-Riverside. By supporting local educational institutions, he can help them develop curricula that match what manufacturers really need.
Giovanna Taylor, former director of the Biotechnology Program at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Fla., worked with clinical engineers at BayCare, a local health system, to develop a biomedical technician certification program that prepares students for both clinical and manufacturing settings. “You have to have people who are currently in the industry engage in the programs that are going to train the new workforce,” she said.
3. Educate students about the medical device industry before they leave high school
Many adolescents and young adults believe the only path to success is a four-year degree and a white-collar job. That mindset can be difficult to change, explained Skip Redmond, president of Moore Tech, a vocational college in Memphis, but starting early can help. “We do a lot of recruiting at the high school level, and it's even being pushed down to the middle school level,” he said. A dual-enrollment pilot program also allows high school students to start training at Moore Tech as early as their junior year of high school and receive Pell Grant funding if eligible.
4. Develop internships
Moore Tech partners with companies to place students in internships, which are often second-shift or evening jobs. “It's essentially test driving the individual and having the individual test drive the career,” he said. Students have an opportunity for hands-on learning, and companies have a chance to scout new talent.
5. Broadcast the economic opportunities of the medical device industry
Make it clear that a career in medical devices can pay well. “When we have students that come and tour, if they’ve tried college and can't make it, if they're older individuals, maybe even veterans, they understand what the dollar means and what a salary means, and when we tell them what our graduates are making, they get very excited about being here,” said Redmond. Moore Tech graduates can anticipate making at least $15 an hour, but “we had an individual who graduated and started working in industrial maintenance at $37.50 an hour,” explained Redmond. When you can advertise starting salaries several times higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25, you can pique interest.
6. Emphasize the skills and expertise employees can develop in this industry
“Manufacturing used to be considered a dead-end job, but that was never really the case,” said John Henshaw, dean of workforce development at Mount Wachusett Community College in the greater Boston area. He finds value in letting students know that some roles in medical device manufacturing are highly technical. Henshaw looks for students who are skilled with their hands and then tries “to help people see that there’s a pride and accomplishment in making something.”
7. Conduct guided tours of your facilities
Many people have never set foot in a manufacturing facility and have no idea what the environment is actually like. “Employers have talked about opening their doors, doing tours, letting people come in,” said Henshaw. Allow prospective employees to peer through the windows into cleanrooms. Show them the variety of settings in which they might work so they realize these jobs often take place in clean environments and require high control. There are few things more powerful than this simple approach. Most successful people in manufacturing today can cite some event that created a sense of passion in them. A simple, well-organized tour of your plant can do that.
Amy Oskirko is the quality manager at Operon Resource Management, a Lowell, Mass.-based provider of outsourced on-boarding manufacturing labor services for medical product companies. Oskirko previously served as account manager for the company’s largest on-site account; she has been with the organization for 15 years. Operon enjoys the distinction of being the only ISO 13485 registered staffing company.
When jobs were more scarce, manufacturers could easily attract employees, including graduates of four-year colleges. “During the downturn, we really had our pick,” said William Pratt, vice president of Kinamed, based in the greater Los Angeles area. Now, jobseekers simply have more options from which to choose. [Editor’s note: Pratt joins other industry peers at the MPO Summit 2017 to discuss this very issue during a panel session on October 19th in San Diego. Get more information about the session and the event at www.mposummit.com.]
Fortunately, device makers and educational institutions are identifying solutions to develop the workforce and keep productive employees from fleeing the industry.
1. Invest in Your Best Employees
“I think in about six months, employers will start poaching workers from other manufacturers, at least in our area,” predicted Pratt. How do you retain your best people? “Ultimately it will be about wages,” he said. “You're just going to have to give people some kind of pay increases.”
But quality of life at work also matters. For larger companies, community service projects and team-building events are wise investments. Even simple things like monthly lunches to celebrate birthdays can help employees feel like there’s a “social fabric” at work, he explained. “Surprisingly, some companies still have very punitive atmospheres, and that can be very stressful,” he said. “If you're trying to get skilled employees from those places, you're probably going to have good luck.”
2. Lend Expertise to Local Organizations
Align yourself with local stakeholders in the industry. For example, Pratt serves on a workforce development board and the Community College Consortium for Bioscience Credentials. He also advises the biotech programs at two community colleges and is an advisor to the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California-Riverside. By supporting local educational institutions, he can help them develop curricula that match what manufacturers really need.
Giovanna Taylor, former director of the Biotechnology Program at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Fla., worked with clinical engineers at BayCare, a local health system, to develop a biomedical technician certification program that prepares students for both clinical and manufacturing settings. “You have to have people who are currently in the industry engage in the programs that are going to train the new workforce,” she said.
3. Educate students about the medical device industry before they leave high school
Many adolescents and young adults believe the only path to success is a four-year degree and a white-collar job. That mindset can be difficult to change, explained Skip Redmond, president of Moore Tech, a vocational college in Memphis, but starting early can help. “We do a lot of recruiting at the high school level, and it's even being pushed down to the middle school level,” he said. A dual-enrollment pilot program also allows high school students to start training at Moore Tech as early as their junior year of high school and receive Pell Grant funding if eligible.
4. Develop internships
Moore Tech partners with companies to place students in internships, which are often second-shift or evening jobs. “It's essentially test driving the individual and having the individual test drive the career,” he said. Students have an opportunity for hands-on learning, and companies have a chance to scout new talent.
5. Broadcast the economic opportunities of the medical device industry
Make it clear that a career in medical devices can pay well. “When we have students that come and tour, if they’ve tried college and can't make it, if they're older individuals, maybe even veterans, they understand what the dollar means and what a salary means, and when we tell them what our graduates are making, they get very excited about being here,” said Redmond. Moore Tech graduates can anticipate making at least $15 an hour, but “we had an individual who graduated and started working in industrial maintenance at $37.50 an hour,” explained Redmond. When you can advertise starting salaries several times higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25, you can pique interest.
6. Emphasize the skills and expertise employees can develop in this industry
“Manufacturing used to be considered a dead-end job, but that was never really the case,” said John Henshaw, dean of workforce development at Mount Wachusett Community College in the greater Boston area. He finds value in letting students know that some roles in medical device manufacturing are highly technical. Henshaw looks for students who are skilled with their hands and then tries “to help people see that there’s a pride and accomplishment in making something.”
7. Conduct guided tours of your facilities
Many people have never set foot in a manufacturing facility and have no idea what the environment is actually like. “Employers have talked about opening their doors, doing tours, letting people come in,” said Henshaw. Allow prospective employees to peer through the windows into cleanrooms. Show them the variety of settings in which they might work so they realize these jobs often take place in clean environments and require high control. There are few things more powerful than this simple approach. Most successful people in manufacturing today can cite some event that created a sense of passion in them. A simple, well-organized tour of your plant can do that.
Amy Oskirko is the quality manager at Operon Resource Management, a Lowell, Mass.-based provider of outsourced on-boarding manufacturing labor services for medical product companies. Oskirko previously served as account manager for the company’s largest on-site account; she has been with the organization for 15 years. Operon enjoys the distinction of being the only ISO 13485 registered staffing company.