Finding Techs and Engineers in a Tight and Shrinking Labor Pool
We might be free from the worst days of the pandemic, but its effects are still being wrought large over the field service industry. Nowhere is this more keenly felt than in the search for new techs and engineers to replace resigning or retiring staff.
We find ourselves, like many industries, in the midst of a serious talent crisis. In fact, a recent survey by the Manpower Group of 40,000 employers across 43 countries discovered that 50% of large companies (defined as organizations with more than 250 workers) and 45% of mid-sized companies (between 50 and 250 employees) were struggling to fill roles.
This problem may not be exclusive to the field service business, but it is one of the most affected by it. As veteran techs and engineers increasingly reach retirement age, there simply isn’t enough fresh talent to fill the vacated roles.
Burnout and Quiet Quitting
Because of the shortage of fresh talent entering the industry, the techs and engineers we do have are increasingly overworked and at serious risk of reaching burnout levels of physical and mental stress. Many of these employees will simply resign in favor of less demanding work, but a significant proportion will opt for a phenomenon known as quiet quitting.
Quiet quitting is not resignation, but instead refers to the practice of only doing the absolute bare minimum work necessary to stay in the job and refusing overtime or any additional work opportunities. According to the Wall Street Journal, 50% of US workers have used quiet quitting as a way to deal with burnout and that proportion is likely to rise if action is not taken.
The pandemic has woken people up to the benefits of a healthier work/life balance and the notion of working to live rather than living to work and hustle culture are rapidly falling out of favor with people of all ages – but particularly the young people who are considering what career paths to take.
If we are to address the field service talent crisis, we need to take a good hard look at our own workplace cultures and reconsider how we treat employees and the options and support we provide them. Ask yourself why someone would come to work in field service with all the stress and responsibility that comes with it, when they could probably earn a similar amount of money in a role with significantly less of both those factors?
A New Culture
We live in an era of unprecedented technological development, and you should be using these innovations to your advantage. Remote working is on the rise and, if you read our previous article on augmented reality technology and remote field service, you will know that offering this method of work is not outside the realm of possibility for your staff.
Obviously, the nature of field service work will necessitate a certain amount of boots on the ground work but enabling your staff to work remotely where possible will increase the chances of you hanging onto them for the future. The ability to work from home improves employee satisfaction due to a healthier work/life balance and saving money on childcare, commuting, and more.
Offering these kinds of work options will not only make your field service operation more attractive to techs and engineers of all ages but will significantly reduce the chances of the workers you do have becoming overworked, stressed, and burnt out, and far less likely to engage in practices such as quiet quitting.
We would be remiss if we didn’t touch on compensation here as well. Most people in this world are doing a job for one reason – money – and all the technological bells and whistles, and work from home policies in the world will count for naught if you are not offering appropriate compensation for the work being carried out. If your staff can earn the same money driving a delivery truck or stacking shelves in a supermarket as they do stuck 100 feet up in the air working on power lines and the like, why on earth would they choose the former over the latter?
Pay your staff well and they are far more likely to stick with you.
Final Thoughts
There are many factors feeding the field service talent crisis and brands in the space need to address them all if they are to remain competitive in an ever-shrinking pool of techs and engineers. Offering flexible working options and appropriate compensation are just two of the ways your field service provider can fight back against this trend.
The field service talent crisis is sure to be part of the conversation at Field Service Palm Springs 2023, being held in April at the JW Marriott Desert Springs, Palm Springs, CA.
Download the agenda today for more information and insights.