randstad inhouse services: the solution to your automotive recruitment challenges.

Automotive businesses of all kinds — from original equipment manufacturers to car dealerships — must be prepared to adjust to the changes taking place in the industry if they want to succeed.

Rapid technological progress in design and manufacturing processes, stricter sustainability standards and changing consumer preferences are just a few of the overarching trends that are shaping the industry right now.

As industry businesses adapt to these operational changes, they're also managing shifting economic conditions and a global labor shortage that makes automotive recruitment more challenging. Ongoing post-pandemic disruptions to the supply chain, which have been extended by China's lockdown policies and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, add further uncertainty.

According to the International Labour Organization, the sector is 'at a turning point and faces an increasingly uncertain future'. In the coming years, recruitment will be a key priority for businesses in every part of the automotive industry. Competition is stiff for top candidates, particularly when it comes to tech-heavy roles. If you want to keep up with the pace of change and put your business in a position to benefit from the latest developments in the marketplace, one thing is certain: you need the right people and skills in your workforce, at the right time.

In this article, we will look at some of the key benefits of our Inhouse Services solution, which is designed to help companies build and manage their contingent workforces.

targeting your key roles for automotive recruitment

A fundamental goal of any company's recruitment strategy should be to find capable, reliable workers to fill roles that are essential to its core business.

A high-performing workforce is particularly important in the automotive industry, where changes in technology, regulatory demands, customer expectations and other factors are putting more pressure on businesses to acquire the skills they need to stay relevant and successful. In a study by McKinsey, less than a third of automotive supply companies felt confident they had the right workforce capabilities to respond to current trends.

Respondents acknowledged that having the right talent is just as important as business capital for them to respond to disruptive industry developments. However, they also highlighted common difficulties in key areas such as:

• finding and attracting qualified candidates
• raising awareness of their company
• providing exciting career development pathways
• retaining talent in the face of competition from other automotive and non-automotive (primarily tech) companies

One of the core principles of Randstad Inhouse Services is to work side-by-side with your business to understand your organization and your key needs, pain points and priorities. We provide a dedicated consultant who is based on-site at your location and can provide support with processes such as recruitment and onboarding. This is a fully customizable solution, so you decide how much involvement your consultant has.

Based on the strong foundation of understanding we build by working closely with you, combined with the latest labor market data and insights, we can help you identify the key areas where you need to focus on talent acquisition, retention and development.

Our experience in the automotive industry means we're uniquely positioned to help you fill roles such as:

• maintenance technicians
• assembly workers
• production supervisors
• safety managers
• quality control specialists
• process engineers

Through our combination of recruitment expertise, local market knowledge and advertising know-how, we make it easier for you to find qualified candidates for crucial positions like these. Your internal team can then focus on the core priorities and strategic goals that matter most to your business right now.

automotive staffing requires efficient shift planning

Smooth and effective shift planning is essential if you want to be sure you have the right staff and skills available when you need them most, without over-hiring or spending money on overtime costs.

When your company is facing financial challenges, operational efficiency is a top priority. This is the case for many automotive businesses today. Although the industry is gradually ramping up to pre-pandemic production levels, experts expect a full recovery to take up to 3 more years. Global auto sales showed a promising upward trajectory in early 2022, but shifting economic forces reversed progress midway through the year. As a result, organizations such as ING downgraded their sales forecasts for 2022. Despite pent-up demand, consumers are expected to be more cautious with vehicle purchases in 2023 and beyond as they deal with inflation, fuel prices and rising interest rates. ING predicted a 5% increase in global auto sales but warned that economic headwinds and reduced consumer confidence could temper growth.

Given these uncertain conditions, companies in the industry need to be resilient enough to persevere through times of adversity while also preparing to seize new opportunities when they arise.

At Randstad, we support our clients' shift planning with our dedicated tool, Relevate workforce schedule, which is designed to give you instant access to staff who are readily available for shift work. All employees listed on the platform are pre-vetted and approved, so you can feel confident in the capabilities of everyone you bring on board.

Relevate workforce schedule is an automated system, which helps to ensure that each stage of the process — from shifts being posted to the target number of workers being reached and the job closing — happens as quickly and efficiently as possible.

flexibility

If your business frequently deals with unpredictable changes in customer demand and fluctuations in your production cycle, flexibility is a priority.

Our Inhouse Services solution is focused on helping clients build a contingent workforce — an approach that many businesses use to ensure they can secure essential workforce capacity and skills to adapt to production fluctuations.

Some of the key advantages you can expect to gain through contingent automotive staffing include:

• reduced labor spend
• a more agile and adaptable workforce
• meeting time-sensitive and project-specific requirements
• satisfying seasonable and variable customer demand
• acquiring skills lacking in the permanent workforce

We can work closely with you to optimize your contingent workforce management. By analyzing your current practices and processes — your methods for hiring temporary staff, for example — we can help you identify opportunities for improvement.

strong employee relationships support automotive recruiting efforts

To achieve lasting success in the fast-moving automotive industry, you need to focus on hiring the right people, delivering a positive employee experience and building strong workforce relationships. This will aid talent retention, which is equally as important as attracting and hiring the right people — particularly if you want to position your organization for sustainable success in a changing industry.

A key element of Randstad Inhouse Services is our care program, which focuses on helping you connect with your workers to identify their priorities, concerns and career ambitions. We achieve this goal through a combination of our consultants' existing expertise and the various insights and knowledge they gain from being based on-site at your business.

We can also help you understand the latest labor market trends and developments in employee expectations, with insights derived from our regular research on specific industries and regions. If you know what your ideal candidates are looking for, you can tailor your job advertising and optimize your employer branding strategy to attract the right people.

Our latest Employer Brand Research findings show that when looking at employers and job opportunities, the key drivers for jobseekers are:

• salary and benefits
• work-life balance
• job security
• work atmosphere
• career progression opportunities

We can help you stay in tune with what matters most to your existing employees and in-demand workers in your industry, so you can attract top talent and build workforce relationships that stand the test of time.

cost savings

Our team works closely with you to analyze your HR processes and identify opportunities to save money. For many businesses in the automotive industry, this will be a crucial benefit at a time when the sales outlook is uncertain and the need to invest in next-generation technologies, production methods and processes is higher than ever.

Clients that use Randstad Inhouse Services typically achieve reductions of at least 2% to 3% in their contingent workforce spend. These savings can be made in various ways, including:

• spending less on job board advertising
• identifying your biggest sources of inefficiency and how they can be addressed
• less time and money spent on manual admin work to find and hire shift workers

When your internal team members don't have to worry about time-consuming daily activities like shift planning and advertising job vacancies, they can focus on bigger goals that will save you money in the long run, such as reducing absenteeism and increasing employee retention.

Our Inhouse Services offering can help you navigate changes in the sector and prepare your contingent workforce for success. Find out more about how industry trends are changing automotive recruiting by downloading our latest guide.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on 22 November 2021.