Though retirements increased and recruiting slowed during COVID-19, the good news is those difficulties have largely eased in recent years. The bad news is the skilled labor shortage in automation and control that existed before the pandemic continues to be a persistent problem, requiring the same patient, consistent, long-term solutions.
“The labor shortage in automation is ongoing because the work is challenging and requires a lot of travel,” says Diane Haig, chief knowledge officer at Applied Manufacturing Technologies (AMT), in Orion, Mich., with approximately 100 engineers divided between contract engineering services and systems integration.
The engineering services team has a dual focus of hardware design and controls engineering. The systems integration group specializes in end-of-line solutions and advanced material handling.
AMT employs the usual online job boards and staff referrals for recruiting. However, Haig reports its supportive culture also lets it maintain a strong network of former employees, or “AMT alumni,” who are also instrumental and bringing in new people.
“We support each other like crazy. If one person is out on a job, there’s always a group of colleagues available to assist them, just like having an old Rolodex with experts they can call,” explains Haig. “We also routinely thank and recognize our employees for helping each other. This support began with AMT’s founder and CEO, Michael Jacobs, when he started the company in 1989, and it’s a vision and culture we work hard to treasure and practice, along with our president, Craig Salvaggio, who was himself hired out of school 22 years ago.”
Value-added values
To perpetuate its values and hone their technical skills, the company puts new staffers through its internal, six-to-eight-week “AMT Automation Academy” training program. Its core values are respect, integrity, support for AMT’s team, and excellence in reputation (RISE). After learning about the company’s values and vision, rookies learn how they contribute to its strategic plan and quarterly, one-year and three-year goals.
Once instilled, AMT celebrates its core values and employees yearly by encouraging them to honor colleagues that help them. This generates 20-25 nominees, who are interviewed and voted on by the company’s leadership. While all nominees are considered to be winners, two are selected as Core Value Award recipients, and receive jackets and stickers. Haig explains that AMT keeps its core values and awards program meaningful because its executive team believes in and actively supports it.
“You have to live values and programs like this,“ says Haig. “Our managers regularly recognize award nominees as part of the ongoing team support they provide to their teams. Beyond recognition, the program also strengthens retention, especially when employees are balancing frequent travel, rapid technological changes, and increased demand for automation solutions driven by recent reshoring efforts.”
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Schools and support culture
Beyond its internal staff development, AMT cultivates external ties by working with several nearby, Detroit-area colleges and universities, including Lake Superior State University, Oakland County Community College, and Oakland University in Auburn, Mich.
“I previously served on Lake State’s industrial advisory board, and we still have someone on it, which helps our recruiting,” says Haig. “In fact, we just held an event for local Lake State alumni, and the university invited prospective engineering students to attend.”
In addition to potential employees, Haig reports that AMT attracts clients because they know its large services group can help them deal with shifting technologies and economic challenges.
“Many integration companies just focus on designing, building and installing systems. However, we also concentrate on maintaining a strong aftermarket presence with everyone that buys our systems,” says Haig. “We can tell them what parts might be wearing out soon and what they need to have on hand, so they don’t get stuck. Our teams frequently travel to clients’ facilities all over the U.S. to install components because many times it’s more effective to be physically present at the machine. We do some remote diagnostics and work on devices when it’s safe and secure, but no client wants to change out software from offsite. Many tasks also come up at the last minute or at 3 a.m., which means our team members often to have to drive long distances across multiple states. We tell our staffers ahead of time why this is so important, which is also part of our culture. Because our people simply step in and do what needs to be done, we often find ourselves thanking them a dozen times in one meeting.”
