March 2021 saw the launch of the groundbreaking virtual careers exhibition - Made Futures, to tackle the surge in people losing their jobs due to the pandemic and to help bridge the skills gap within the manufacturing sector. The exhibition saw 1555 jobseekers attend the week-long event and sign up to the madefutures.com jobs board, to search for vacancies from 200+ manufacturing exhibitors.
We spoke to our manufacturing exhibitors to see what success they gained from being part of the exhibition. Did they find their latest employee through Made Futures?
Long serving Made in Midlands member and leading tool maker Andel Plastics posted a role to madefutures.com for a Tool Setter and Machine Operator for their injection moulding department. After exhibiting at the Made Futures Virtual Careers Exhibition (22nd-26th March 2021), the company has since filled both roles. Normally, the business would use well known jobs boards or rely on word of mouth to advertise roles. Helena Flowers, Managing Director at Andel Plastics, said:
“The Made Futures jobs board and exhibition was really easy to use and navigate. When I first posted the jobs, I had 5 matches already. This allowed me to contact relevant candidates proactively and in real time.”
Vehicle body manufacturers Bevan Group also saw success with their posted job vacancies, with over 40 applicants applying to their roles throughout the week-long event. Claudia Spencer, Customer Care Manager at Bevan Group, said:
“We have also received additional cv’s since the event through our microsite and have the flexibility to add or remove jobs on the jobs board which is a great tool and one we shall make good use of going forward.”
Leading supplier of aluminium and stainless steel products Syspal also successfully recruited as a result of the exhibition. Syspal advertised a role for a Material Handler and has since filled the role, they also have another applicant booked in for an interview for the ‘Goods in Operative’ vacancy. Kilby Packaging have also recently hired for their ‘Warehouse Operative’ role after receiving eight applications for the vacancy.
Many companies throughout the membership thought the exhibition and jobs board raised awareness of roles in industry, whilst actively being a tool to help businesses recruit. Craig De Lara is the Managing Director for QTS - leading manufacturer of wire mesh-based material handling solutions for the logistics industry, and was a speaker at the Made Futures exhibition for the Meet Britain’s Makers segment. Craig said:
“The concept of Made Futures and the scale of what the Made in Group were trying to achieve simply grabbed our interest from the beginning. As a UK manufacturer ourselves, QTS understands the challenges of attracting the right talent to fit in with our organisation's culture, but we were blown away by the end result and met some great peers and job seekers in the process.”
Pam Jackson, ERP Manager at Siddall & Hilton - the UK's largest manufacturer of welded wire mesh, added:
“Even though it has already likely to have been quoted it is worth repeating that the Made Futures fair has been a great platform to raise awareness of the different careers available in Manufacturing. Manufacturing is often overlooked in an increasingly digital world. Through innovation and adoption of the latest technologies we can ensure we attract and recruit new talent who can become our skilled workforce of the future.”
Visit www.madefutures.com for more