Production workers: recruitment and staffing
Staffing a manufacturing operation combines filling specific roles with the need to keep production running through swings in orders and through turnover. Manufacturers usually combine operator, assembly and support roles across shifts, and each places different demands on recruitment and training. This page is an overview of how to approach it.
What is specific to manufacturing
Production commonly runs in shifts and depends on continuity — a gap in people feeds straight through to order fulfilment. Roles range from machine operation through manual assembly to support and materials handling, which means different qualification requirements.
Recruitment considerations
For production roles a combination of routes tends to work: direct hire for the permanent core, agency employment for flexible cover of peaks, and for shortage occupations, recruitment from abroad. The choice depends on urgency and on whether the need is standing or temporary.
Training and starting
Starting in production involves initial health-and-safety training, familiarisation with the workplace and machines, and progressive training. For machine and assembly roles the time to full productivity is longer, so it pays to prepare the training well and to nominate someone to support the new starter.
Capacity planning
Staffing capacity planning follows from the production plan and its seasonality. It helps to separate the standing requirement from peaks and assign a different route to each — a permanent core and flexible capacity. Where recruitment from abroad is involved, the administrative lead time has to be allowed for.
Request staff Describe the roles and the shift pattern and we will come back to you.