Power to the pensioners

Paul McCartney: UK manufacturers have found an answer to your musical musing. When you get older, losing your hair, we'll definitely still need you in manufacturing when you're 64, according to WM's People & Productivity report. In fact, you might be working until 65, 66 and all the way up to octogenarian territory in some circumstances. Skills-starved factories are clinging to pensionable employees as they struggle to find young talented alternatives, WM's report found. Nearly 30% of manufacturers employ over 65s because of difficulties replacing skills sets, our survey of 167 senior managers and directors found. One in 10 deems a 70-something irreplaceable. The age of the golden oldie comes as over half of manufacturers report skills shortages damaging overall business performance. Just 6% note any improvement in the talent pipeline in the past 12 months despite continued government trumpeting about vocational career routes and announcements of extended apprenticeship funding. There's no sign of an overnight cure to the deep-rooted image problems afflicting manufacturing, according to some respondents. Chris Dryden, director of Wimbledon-based sheet metal specialist CTL Metalworks, comments: "Nobody looks forward to going into manufacturing. They want to be bankers driving flash cars. The reality is when it comes to recruiting, we're left to pick from what's left." And the wheat has very much been separated from the chaff by the time of the manufacturing milk round, the survey reveals. An overwhelming 71% of firms rate the literacy and numeracy skills of applicants for shopfloor junior roles fair or below. Matters are made worse by truculence and poor work ethic in many cases, remarks Dryden. "With some of the youngsters we've had in, it's like they're doing you a favour. I think it's a consequence of the breakdown of value systems within our society." However not all youngsters are tarred with the same brush. Attitudes towards apprentices, for instance, are far more upbeat than generic shopfloor juniors, the survey shows. More than half – 54% – reveal plans to recruit an apprentice this year. Those opting out are doing so because of a lack of resource rather than reservations over the calibre of candidates. "We've managed to employ some really good people," enthuses Cy Wilkinson, MD of Cressall Resistors which typically takes on two or three apprentices each year. "We also take on students in their gap year and sponsor them to do their degree." Cressall's youth policy presents an interesting counter to manufacturer's monologue of a skills crisis driven by decades of government neglect. An inconvenient truth might be that we have been, to a lesser or greater extent, masters of our downfall. An increasing reliance on ageing employees, for example, hints at a lack of succession planning. The case is strengthened by anecdotal evidence from respondents. Many told WM that moves to retain OAPs were largely pragmatic rather than part of a grand strategy. "He wants to work and we need him," as one respondent put it. The reality of a sector doing it on the hoof is backed by some academic studies. Manufacturers are less likely to develop succession plans than other industry sectors, according to a US study by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work. But those who have the discipline to plan ahead are reaping the rewards, says Nik Baker, survey respondent and manufacturing manager at fabricated aluminium specialist, Alcoa. The firm has targeted self-sufficiency in reaction to skills shortages, he explains. "We're looking for the next supervisors and managers in seven years time. We're placing our operators on secondment in the CI team to try and push their development." Individual employee development plans are linked directly to anticipated company skills needs, explains Baker. The technique is particularly useful when managing those nearing voluntary retirement age, he says. "We hold quarterly reviews with those approaching 60. If they are planning to retire in five years, then what will they leave behind?" Keeping relationships open and honest can benefit both parties and avoid the ambiguity caused by the abolition of default retirement age. The key, say survey respondents, is to be proactive rather than reactive. Manufacturers should also be open minded, WM was told. Flexible working can help prolong the career of an employee over 65 and ensure you retain a valuable skill set for years to come. You might even retain the knowhow forever by appointing them as a mentor to your newest recruits. Manufacturing is a man's world Female manufacturing employees are rapidly approaching endangered species status, according to the People & Productivity survey findings. Women make up less than a quarter of total workforces in nearly 60% of factories, the results reveal. Female workers occupy a broad range of job posts with a relatively even spread of operators, managers and directors. Yet the data leaves little doubt that the factory remains largely a man's world. "It's not that the environment is physically demanding," says Kay Rowlands, production controller at Veolia Water in High Wycombe, when asked to explain the imbalance. "I think for many women here it's a case of the long hours and trying to fit those around running a family. They start at 6.30am and finish at 6pm." Rowlands is quick to acknowledge the rise of the 21st century man in taking on a bigger role in childcare. But the phenomenon remains the exception rather than the rule in this corner of Buckinghamshire. Rigid shift patterns offer one explanation for male dominance on shopfloors. However imbalances further up the organisational hierarchy have a more sinister cause, according to one female survey respondent. "The level of female managers is very low," she commented. "I feel there's a reluctance to give women senior roles." Whether that feeling is fact or fiction is unclear. Some quarters of industry say they will never overcome natural barriers to luring women into the workforce. "We do struggle attracting female workers," said one respondent from heavy industry. "We had three girls drop out of a training programme. They said the intensity of the factory environment was too much." Yet the blast furnace is not typical of a sector in transition. Modern factories are contemporary, clean and considered places to forge a successful career. Should manufacturing figure out how to convince more young British women of the case, then the sector could have found itself a silver bullet to skills pain in years to come. The great illusion can't last indefinitely Difficulties attracting female candidates, problems attracting male candidates... it's easy to think of manufacturing is an industry in turmoil. Yet the sector is shrugging off its skills frustrations to produce some impressive productivity gains, according to the report. Three-quarters of respondents have improved performance from 2011 levels, with efficiency gains most often credited to continuous improvement programmes. UK manufacturers seem to have a knack for conjuring up the unlikely that would make Derren Brown envious. Leaning on ageing workers, short of skilled engineers and yet somehow still ramping up performance. Whatever the magic formula is, you have the uncomfortable feeling that the illusion can't last forever. How are UK manufacturers boosting productivity in the midst of a skills crisis? WM will be uniting a group of frontline manufacturing managers to debate the results of our People & Productivity survey. Don't miss the debate report in our September issue Methodology: 167 senior managers and decision-makers from a range of manufacturing sites responded to WM's People & Productivity report. The sample included representatives from plastics & rubber, general mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, pharmaceuticals and automotive. Respondents came from companies large and small, from those employing over 500 to those with fewer than 50. Key findings 28% are employing workers over 65 because of difficulties replacing skill sets 71% rate the numeracy and literacy skills of junior job applicants as fair or worse 59% have workforces which are at least three quarters male £40-50k average salary of manufacturing manager