9 March 2017 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal
Low salaries are a key factor in growing skills shortages in the US retail facilities management and maintenance sector, says a survey of more than 1,000 member companies by the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM).
And 100 per cent of respondents report finding and retaining qualified candidates as the top challenge.
Eighty-one per cent of the American association's suppliers are competing for talent in the same pool of "highly in-demand project managers and skilled trades professionals that PRSM retailer members depend upon most", including HVAC technicians, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, construction managers and general contractors.
Members say they increasingly recruit online, with 86 per cent of salaried, non-management PRSM employees being found through social media.
The study identifies increasing recruiting budgets and providing better training and education as routes to improving recruitment, as well as placing an emphasis on recruiting ex-forces personnel.