Tips for hiring warehouse staff in 2022

If your business is experiencing warehouse staff shortages, you’re not alone. Around 13% of logistics firms reported severe labour shortages at the end of last year, and competition for the best staff is still pretty fierce. 

With these challenges to overcome, hiring managers need to get ahead of the game. You need a recruitment strategy tailored to the needs of your business, which attracts and retains the people you need – and fast.  

Here are some warehouse staff recruitment tips to start thinking about: 

Be clear, descriptive and detailed about the skill set required 

It’s tempting to be a little vague in your job description or advert, hoping to attract as many people as possible. But it’s a waste of everyone’s time if you attract large numbers of candidates who simply aren’t suitable for the role. So, take a targeted approach instead.  

Manage candidate expectations 

If a role has particular requirements, state them upfront. For example, clearly state where a role is physically demanding, requires long or unsociable hours or is available for peak periods only. Otherwise, you risk losing workers later on when they find that the reality of the job doesn’t match their expectations. 

Consider temporary hires to fill capacity gaps 

It can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive to fill permanent warehouse jobs. This is why it could be worth considering bringing in temporary staff to increase productivity.  

You might use this staffing resource as a stopgap until you can find permanent employees. Alternatively, you can train your temporary team on the job, having them shadow permanent staff until they build up the skills and experience you need.  

Think of it as a quicker, cheaper way of ‘growing your own’ talent, rather than training up unskilled apprentices over a number of years. 

Bump up the starting salary 

If you’re really struggling to find the warehouse staff you need, there is one obvious tactic you can try. It’s a common trend across the industry right now to offer boosted salaries, bonuses and bumper benefits packages as an incentive for job-seeking workers. If you want the best people and you need them now – and you can afford the increase – it could be worth making your pay offer just a tad more competitive.  

Launch an employee referral scheme 

Your existing employees can be the most compelling advocates for your business, especially when it comes to recruitment. After all, they know just what it’s like to work for you. They’re likely to be connected to others with similar skill sets (i.e. through previous roles at other companies) and find candidates that are the right fit for the organisation.  

Encourage your team to bring in potential new hires with a formal referral scheme, which offers rewards when a recommended candidate comes onboard.  

And of course, it always pays to work with a recruitment specialist. Speed up your warehouse staff recruitment with the experts at Aqumen Recruitment – get in touch to find out more 

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