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By Nathan Peck | MiBiz
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GRAND RAPIDS — Janis Petrini has watched the ebbs and flows of the employment landscape over the last decade.

Petrini, owner of Express Employment Pros in Grand Rapids for the last 15 years, has experienced the highs, when manufacturing jobs were so prized that companies would poach highly valued employees from competitors’ shop floors. She has, unfortunately, also witnessed the lows, as manufacturing shed thousands of jobs as Michigan slogged through two recessions.

Petrini says that employment is picking up, but that skills gaps need to be addressed to get large numbers of the unemployed back on payrolls. PHOTO: NATHAN PECK

As a temporary employment agency, Express Employment Pros is on the front lines of a new manufacturing ethos. The industry has changed, requiring more skills, a greater focus on quality, and the ability to be flexible to meet changing demands.

“We’ve been through two body blows for the Michigan economy — Sept. 11 and the recession (of the last) two years, but companies are always looking for top talent,” Petrini said. “They’re looking for the top performers, people who can prove their value every day. Through this 10-year span, we have defined what top performers look like. Today, companies don’t have room for extra people on their payrolls.”

The difficulty is that many of the people that were spun out of the labor market have not been able to increase their skills to meet the needs of companies today. As a result, there are a number of jobs that go unfilled at employers around the region.

“We are in a recruiting crunch, though it is hard to believe,” Petrini told MiBiz. “Companies have to change how they find that talent. The same skills are needed by skilled machinists whether they are in the auto industry, or working on a lithium-ion battery pack. But employees have to understand that they are an owner now in that company. They have to take the initiative to add skills and add value, to help find ways to make the company more productive and profitable.”

On the other end of the employment equation, Petrini says that potential employees are forced to rethink how they interview and market themselves to employers.

“We’re teaching people to market their value to organizations.”

Companies got lean to survive the recession and are now finding themselves constrained as the economy bounces back. Temporary employment is picking up, as a result, as companies remain skittish about bringing on new full-time employees. Additionally, companies are turning to Express Employment Pros and others to help fill professional positions.

“There are jobs out there, (but) we need to get people with the right skills. Across the board, there is a tremendous amount of professional needs, a tremendous amount of opportunities for skilled workers.”

Looking more broadly at the Michigan economy, Petrini is troubled by low graduation rates around the state. Manufacturing jobs exist across Michigan, but employers want those with high school degrees plus some training or education after graduation. Workers got frightened in the downturn, turned away from their backgrounds in manufacturing or trades, and pursued degree fields such as healthcare. Petrini questions that logic today.

“We have a huge challenge there — how are we going to take the next workers and market them? As a state dependent on innovation and attracting talent, business is really engaged in that process,” she said. The challenge is taking the existing workforce and upping their skills. “There is an increasing importance placed on adult education at colleges and universities, and we have to fund it as well. We have to promote relevant education — we want to be equipping people with the proper education and take what they already have and improving it, rather than reinventing them.”

In another sign that the job market is improving, Petrini is seeing more interest from job seekers with current employment.

“They hunkered down during the recession, were doing the jobs of two or three people, and are starting to look,” she said. “People want to move around again.”

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TAGS:

• express employment pros
• grand rapids
• human resources
• janis petrini
• temporary employment