2 minute read
The Battle for Talent - Recruiting Tomorrow’s Best and Brightest
By: Trevor Martin, Business Manager
Like many others, UA Local 400 is not sheltered from the challenges of finding and retaining qualified individuals to meet the growing demands of our blossoming communities. It can definitely be a daunting task and anyone who is in talent acquisition can definitely relate!
Thankfully, our organization has been blessed to have great leaders with great foresight when it came to finding talent. On top of that, UA 400 is very fortunate to have 2,400 members, who believe in continued growth and constant investment back into their organization.
In 2016 we saw the need to get in front the looming labor shortage and we started our Youth Apprenticeship Program (YA). Part of this was to create a new position to solely focus on getting in front of students at the high schools in the districts we overlap. Today, our Youth Apprenticeship Program plays a huge role in us sourcing talent for the future. This year, within our class of 88 new apprentices, seventeen percent of them were previously a youth apprentice with one of our employers. This number continues to climb year over year and applicants register with us weekly for an opportunity to become a YA.
In 2020, we decided to inject some technology into our efforts and rolled out our Local 400 Career Portal. The portal is the entry point for anyone interested in a career in the pipe trades. Last year alone, over five hundred people came through our portal. On the flipside of the portal, our employers can access and view all our entries. Valuable information is quantified on a “Pipe Folio” and applicants are contacted directly by employers. All of this is done digitally and is proving to be a preferred way to attract and communicate with our new generations. This has streamlined the hiring processes, and increased confidence in the applicants we refer to our employers.
Innovation, engagement, and technology are going to be key contributors to winning the battle for talent. If it takes a long time for your ship to turn, you may be missing out. Local 400 continues to look for ways to turn our ship faster and tighter. So far, it’s proven to work!
