STAUNTON, Va. — I have spent 30 years helping companies address hiring challenges that are unlikely to ease soon. In my experience, the “war for talent” is not only about attracting top candidates but also keeping them.
By refining key parts of their hiring strategies, employers can make recruitment simpler, faster, and more effective.
Today, several forces are reshaping laundry hiring, including a shrinking applicant pool (especially for chief engineers and maintenance technicians), evolving immigration policies, and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI).
EVOLVING IMMIGRATION POLICIES
Evolving immigration policies have tightened labor availability and increased the importance of retention.
Laundries have historically relied on immigrant workers for production and plant operations, but significant changes have affected this labor pool. As labor becomes harder to secure, companies face higher operating costs; increased investment in automation such as RFID (radio-frequency identification) tracking; automated sorting; high-efficiency batch tunnel washers; and rising wages needed to compete for scarce talent.
Commercial laundries are also relying more on temporary staffing agencies and professional recruiting firms to fill roles they may not have needed outside help with in the past. These added labor and talent-sourcing costs should be included in both short- and long-term budgets, giving employers more flexibility to negotiate and adjust offers when necessary.
The labor environment for commercial laundries has changed significantly over the past six years. From 2021 to 2024, broader humanitarian programs, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) extensions, pandemic-era immigration exceptions, and asylum-related work permits expanded the pool of legally authorized workers.
Since 2025, some immigration programs have been terminated, challenged, reduced, or contested, creating uncertainty for this segment of the labor pool. As a result, employers must monitor workers’ authorization status more closely and apply greater scrutiny to I-9 documentation and compliance reviews. The extra processes, policies and procedures performed may require more hires due to these time-consuming responsibilities.
The newest and most significant 2026 immigration updates from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) include new guidelines that may affect labor availability. Policies signed into law on May 22 require certain immigrants to complete processing or registration outside the United States rather than adjusting status from within the country. These changes include a directive for many green-card applicants to apply from their home countries, and a requirement for undocumented immigrants to register with the federal government.
Another significant workforce change since 2025 has been increased enforcement of evolving immigration policies. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, investigating transnational crime, and detaining unauthorized individuals. ICE has conducted on-site investigations, audits and raids focused on unauthorized workers. As enforcement activity has increased, labor shortages have grown in commercial laundries and other industries that depend heavily on immigrant workers.
For hiring managers, the impact may include:
- More work authorization screening and longer verification timelines
- Decreased access to certain labor pools
- Increased competition for legally authorized workers
- A stronger focus on retention because replacing employees has become more difficult and expensive
These changes have presented significant challenges to the laundry industry.
RAPID GROWTH IN AI USAGE
News flash for HR professionals, recruiters and hiring managers: The human element in hiring is more important today, not less. You cannot take “human” out of human resources.
When discussing retention and supportive workplace cultures, it is important to remember that AI does not have feelings, emotions, or consciousness. How can a company communicate its human culture to employees and candidates if an applicant tracking system screens strong talent out before a real conversation occurs? You could potentially lose the best candidate for the position.
AI is affecting the laundry/textile industry in two key areas: recruitment and operations.
While AI is beginning to reshape the hiring process, it is not perfect. Recruiters and HR professionals use AI for résumé screening, candidate screening, interview scheduling, job posting support, and labor market analysis.
At the same time, AI has created new challenges. Candidates can use AI to write résumés and cover letters or prepare interview responses, and AI-generated résumés may exaggerate qualifications. This makes it harder to distinguish candidates who genuinely have the required skills from those who are simply skilled at presenting themselves through AI-assisted tools.
As a result, recruiters and hiring managers must place greater emphasis on in-depth screening conversations, in-person evaluations, reference checks, behavioral interviews, and skills assessments to confirm both qualifications and cultural fit. From an external recruiter’s perspective, clients still prioritize industry-specific knowledge, direct laundry/textile experience, and the right personal chemistry when seeking top talent.
As laundries modernize through automation, advanced equipment, and production tracking systems, the skills employers need are changing. Companies are seeking candidates who can learn new systems quickly, troubleshoot automated equipment, work alongside technology, and adapt to changing workflows and schedules. Problem-solving ability, critical thinking, and technical aptitude are becoming nearly as important as industry experience, especially for candidates from manufacturing and other operational fields with transferable skills.
AI is still far from perfect. We are likely in the early to middle stages of adoption, and the investment is significant. When organizations rush to adopt AI without the right infrastructure, employees can experience burnout, blame, and fatigue — signs that the workforce is absorbing the effects of poor implementation.
This can cause high turnover, which is costly and presents a negative impact on company branding and other employees, along with hiring managers. Your employees are your best asset, and top talent does not leave a company; they mostly end their employment because of bad management.
Research cited by BriefGlance.com in “The AI Productivity Paradox: Why Your Team Feels Faster but Isn’t” (June 10, 2026) states that 87% of employees use AI and may save about 1.5 days, or 11 hours, per week. However, employees may spend 6.4 of those saved hours “botsitting,” checking AI work, correcting errors, comparing data for accuracy, and testing outcomes. As a result, many organizations see limited bottom-line impact after implementing AI, and only 13% report significant improvements.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Retaining good employees is a constant struggle. After hiring an employee, only half of the battle has been won. Retaining your hard-won employee is a challenge, not a one-time win. Stay in communication with your employees. Ask about their personal lives, share business missions and goals, and make sure employees know you have an open-door policy.
I challenge every organization in the laundry/textile industry to keep the human element central to every organizational decision; employees remain your greatest asset because they cannot be replaced by technology today.
Also, focus not only on filling open roles but also on building supportive cultures where employees want to stay. This includes competitive compensation, current training programs, career advancement opportunities, and strong leadership.
Finally, broaden your talent strategies to address low applicant numbers, strengthen retention and compliance amid immigration changes, adopt technology with the proper infrastructure, and partner closely with an industry recruiter to compete more effectively for top talent.
Miss part 1 about hiring as the applicant pool shrinks? Click HERE to read it.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
