Current Scenario of Blue Collar Jobs in India & How to Hire Blue Collar Workers, and Fast
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental to the workforce sector of India, with millions of blue-collar employees either not being compensated for their efforts or laid off altogether. The uncertainty that spread in lieu of the growth of the working sector came as a shock to many blue-collar workers.
Up until now, blue-collar workers have always been associated with unskilled, semi-skilled, or trivial jobs, and they have been the most impacted during the COVID-19 era. However, the silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that everyone got exposed to the role those blue-collar workers play in creating the foundations of this society.
Although massive layoffs resulted in millions of these employees losing their livelihoods, the recent statistics seem to be promising for this workforce sector.
The Bloom in the Blue-Collar Sector:
With the reduction in the restrictions of inter-state movement, the demand for blue-collar employees is said to experience a 50% jump. This jump is said to be taking place in the second half of the year 2021, primarily across the states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
The data and trends spanning across the first six months were factored in while drawing these conclusions. At present, the three main trends that are creating a surge in demand for blue-collar workers include technology advancements, simplified labor codes, and the rise of the gig economy.
Connecting Employers and Blue-Collar Workers:
Rozgarkart serves as a platform between employers and their employees. It is a portal for blue-collar workers to find jobs that suit their expertise. It was primarily founded with the mission to minimize the financial dependence of blue-collar workers and improve their accessibility to jobs.
It ensures that the whole process of finding credible and reliable employees becomes seamless and quick. At the same time, it ensures that employees can display their skill set to the market effectively and find employment opportunities.
How to Hire Blue Collar Workers, and Fast:
As the economy is rebounding and organizations are in urgent need of Blue-Collar workers. India is estimated to employ 7 million, or 70 lakh, blue-collar jobs by the end of this financial year.
“As the Indian economy emerges from restrictions and businesses are resuming activity, there is a heightened demand for blue-collar workers,” said Pravin Agarwala, co-founder, and CEO of Betterplace.
Being a business administrator or HR professional in the blue-collar industry, you may realize that blue-collar jobs are the hardest to fill however proficient you are. Be that as it may, understanding the big picture of entire recruitment, especially the blue-collared industry can expand your productivity and make you more competent with recently added team members.
Blue Collar workers want more boosts in salary to counterbalance the ever-rising work demands. Apart from offering higher wages, blue-collar workers are now better aware of the benefits and incentives being offered. Moreover, a survey of blue-collar workers found that 78% of turnover didn’t have anything to do with wages (Industry Today, 2019). Instead, a positive environment and opportunities for professional growth are key to attracting and retaining workers.
We should dive further to discover alternate ways of attracting and recruiting Blue-collar workers quickly and to hold on to them.
Actuate A Feeling of Pride
Individuals are passionate about their work; blue-collar employees are no different. Why do workers of some of the well-known car companies feel proud to be working for them? Basically, in light of the fact that they have been incited to have an emotional connection to the product they make. They know every vehicle they produce is a masterpiece by its own doing. Fundamentally, every HR manager ought to impart the feeling of pride in a regular worker. Employer branding also plays a major role in contributing to the sense of pride of working for a certain reputed or fast-growing name.
Simple Assessment Strategies
Most blue-collar jobs need not bother of higher education or the need to go through thorough psychometric tests and different rounds of interviews. The key is to simplify. A blue-collar recruitment drive can, without much of a stretch, become fruitful assuming it is specially designed for the positions. A simple smoothed-out process that has not very many obstacles for the applicants will help in finding the right candidates quickly. Instead of theoretical interview sessions, the applicants have to be assessed based on their practical skills – since most of these jobs are technical by nature.
Training Opportunities
This doesn’t simply mean conducting an ‘apprentice-level program. Rather it’s an opportunity to foster an employee and fill skill & ability gaps. Each worker, regardless of whether a blue or white collar, needs to develop and do well throughout everyday life. At the point when you organize well-planned training and growth opportunities, you draw in people who are willing to learn and develop. Such individuals who are consistently open to learning & upskilling are resources you ought to consistently pay special mind to.
Choosing Right
Obviously, it is more difficult than one might expect. But the best way to retain employees, whether blue-collar or white-collar is by recruiting the perfect individuals, closest to your requirement. This, for any recruiter, is the best-case scenario. Do not make do or adjust, with what you got in your talent pool. Choose right, train right, and enable your blue-collar staff to grow.
Use Employee Referrals
Employee referrals are an effective recruitment method to hire and retain employees. Referred employees tend to stay longer at the company and could be better at culture fits. So, inquire your workers, as to whether they know other capable individuals who can fill your open jobs.
Start your reference program by figuring out what rewards you’ll give for fruitful references, and how you’ll contact your workers. For instance, your recruiting software might have an underlying reference option to make it more straightforward for you to demand references, and for your workers to track down qualified individuals in their network and refer them.
Workplace Upkeep and Maintenance
Little things have a major effect. Workers are bound to be disappointed in case they are consistently utilizing unsatisfactory offices or confronting dissatisfaction brought about by slow servers, insufficient software, or broken hardware. Manage staff complaints quickly and implant reporting processes to identify issues. Extra customized contacts to the workplace, regardless of whether that be pictures on the dividers or a full-scale Google slide, will engage employees and improve their perception of coming to work. Allowing blue-collar employees to take responsibility for their own workspace and apply small personalized touches to embed a sense of belonging and support job satisfaction.
