CHICAGO — Even before the pandemic, it was challenging for industrial and institutional laundries to hire and retain employees. The events of 2020 only made things worse.
In the years that have followed, hiring and retention have improved somewhat, but operators still find the process to be difficult, according to the most recent American Laundry News Your Views survey.
More than 46% of respondents indicate that hiring has been “somewhat difficult” over the past few years. The situation has been “very difficult” for 30.8%, and 23.1% say hiring hasn’t been difficult.
In terms of retaining laundry employees, 69.2% say it has been “somewhat difficult.” Retention hasn’t been difficult for 23.1% of respondents, and only 7.7% say it’s been “very difficult.”
What have laundry operators done that has positively affected hiring and retention? More than 61% say offering a good base salary and other cash incentives has helped, and 46.2% share that offering good health and welfare benefits has been positive.
Nearly 31% of respondents indicate that employee referrals/word of mouth have aided in hiring and retention, while 15.4% say that offering growth and development opportunities has helped.
More than 23% of those who took the survey say they used other methods to overcome labor challenges, including:
- “We have set up the means to measure all elements of production together with meaningful targets and a vision. This engages the staff and creates a competitive environment where successful team members are rewarded for achieving and exceeding their KPIs (key performance indicators).”
- “Immigration (legal).”
- “I was able to find someone who had experience and is still working out pretty well.”
Most respondents (53.8%) indicate their laundry operation hasn’t turned to automation to handle labor challenges, compared to 46.2% that have.
Areas where automation has been employed include:
- “We added automation on the clean side/dry-fold area of production. Almost all of our equipment purchases over the last two to three years have been to improve and increase folding capacity.”
- “Automated sorting system; monorail on the clean and the soil side; and bagging washcloths, cleaning cloths, mops.”
- “We have installed folders and automatic wrapping systems to eliminate as many repetitive production jobs as possible.”
- “Packaging machine, folding machines and an auto-attended phone system.”
- “Towel bagging, garment bagging and coverall folding.”
Finally, one respondent points out that laundry hiring and retention “is area-specific. Find a source of people and use it as long as you can. Word of mouth really is the key.”
While the Your Views survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific. Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%.
Subscribers to American Laundry News e-mails are invited to take the industry survey anonymously online each quarter. All managers and administrators of institutional/OPL, cooperative, commercial and industrial laundries are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and identify industry trends.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
