CICERO, N.Y. — But for a lack of people working machines, Nicole McQuaid says that Clinton’s Ditch Cooperative Co. could be taking on more business. McQuaid is the HR manager at Clinton’s Ditch, a bottling plant in Cicero owned by PepsiCo that opened in 1968 and fills both aluminum cans and plastic bottles for Pepsi […]
CICERO, N.Y. — But for a lack of people working machines, Nicole McQuaid says that Clinton’s Ditch Cooperative Co. could be taking on more business.
McQuaid is the HR manager at Clinton’s Ditch, a bottling plant in Cicero owned by PepsiCo that opened in 1968 and fills both aluminum cans and plastic bottles for Pepsi and other clients. The cooperative, which employs about 260, maintains its own trucking fleet, which services the northeastern United States.
McQuaid and Clinton’s Ditch are currently looking to fill 18 positions on the shop floor, plus a handful of fleet-mechanic openings. Clinton’s Ditch is working with Zoey Advertising of Syracuse to spread the word about its openings on the radio, on social media, with a letter-writing campaign, and even on the side of a box trailer alongside I-81.
But the job marketplace has been turned on its head from a year ago with a strong recovery from the depths of the pandemic. Unemployment rates have tumbled and a record-high of nearly 11 million job openings nationwide at the end of July suggests that the 2021 market belongs to jobseekers, not employers.
“People know that employers are struggling to find people, so they think that you should just take anybody,” McQuaid said in a recent interview with CNYBJ, before emphasizing that skills and experience are still important despite employers’ strong need for help.
The dilemma is not unique to manufacturing. Briana Calabrese, branch director at recruiter Robert Half in Rochester, tells CNYBJ that hiring needs are almost universal across industries and across localities. Central New York employers are facing the same challenges as those across the country.
Calabrese said that today’s jobseekers are primarily concerned with “salary and advancement,” and that employers must be attentive to existing employees who may be dissatisfied and open to change.
And employees are leaving, or at least considering it. Robert Half research found that 28 percent of remote workers have used company time to search for other jobs, Calabrese said. But she also said that employers are flexing with the market in a bid to find the right formula for recruitment.
McQuaid and Clinton’s Ditch — located at 8478 Pardee Road in Cicero, just off I-81 —have found some recruitment success after bumping starting pay up to $21 per hour, offering benefits from day one of employment, and promoting robust advancement potential. The firm hired 35 people in 2020 and have plans to hire 18 more next year, in addition to the positions open now.
Those 18 jobs Clinton’s Ditch needs to fill on the shop floor are general helpers, tasked with cleaning, maintenance, and assisting with the running of machines. McQuaid noted that the majority of employees in management at the company began their tenures on the floor, and that applicants appreciate such an opportunity after potentially stagnating for years with their previous employer.
Employers must contend with more abstract considerations, too. One of the most significant recent changes in employee attitudes has been the importance they are placing on company values, Calabrese said. She cited Robert Half research, which found that 71 percent of workers would leave a company if they felt their values didn’t align.
McQuaid said that she may soon contend with that issue, as she thinks company culture may be impacted by President Joe Biden’s recently announced mandate that companies with more than 100 employees must require their workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing. She said she was concerned about the resentment that such a policy has the potential to stoke in some workers, as well as its potential to tempt older employees into retiring early.
But salary and benefits still seem to be exhibiting the most influence on jobseeker’s decision-making. “We’ve had really good luck with people who have been teachers,” McQuaid said. “They … heard our ad on the radio and said, ‘I can make how much making soda?’; I don’t even make that being a teacher.”