FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

President of SANINC – A member of the Sanford Rose Associates® network of offices, Mark Stocker, Featured in Metal Center News, Personnel Management – How to Keep ‘Em

Plano, TX 12/12/2025

Finding new talent is just one part of the HR equation. Making sure the good ones stay is crucial to your operations.

The recent past has been fraught with stories of companies in the manufacturing space scrambling to fill positions, a byproduct of an aging/retiring workforce, a sluggish birth rate and a reluctance for young people to be directed toward a career in the industrial arts.

While the immense labor crunch that followed in the wake of the pandemic-related shutdowns has abated, employment issues remain a concern for companies in the North American manufacturing sector, including distribution.

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, there were nearly a half-million jobs openings in manufacturing in July 2025. More meaningfully, NAM estimates that 3.8 million manufacturing jobs will be added over the next eight years, with about half of them going unfilled if more young people are not inspired to pursue a career in the sector.

Mark Stocker, president of Louisville, Ky.-based MetalJobs Network, says some of the primary drivers of employee exits are an unclear pathway to advancement and workers not getting paid what they feel they deserve. He sees that in the makeup of his employee clients.

“Some of the easiest for us to place are those people with two to five years in the industry. These are the up and comers.”

These are the men and women who have taken a position right out of college or trade school, taken quickly to the industry and then stagnate in organizations that either fail to recognize their abilities or have no concrete plan to keep them moving upward.

Read full article here: https://www.metalcenternews.com/editorial/current-issue/personnel-management/45978