Dive Brief:
- Warren Industries' president told the Journal Times he's not too worried about about a competitor's announcement that it's building a plant nearby and offering entry-level employees between $13 and $15 an hour. Namowicz's company pays less than $13 an hour in the area.
- Namowicz said he is unfazed about the news because he and others, like Amazon, feel confident that $13 is the region's going wage rate for unskilled labor. Transportation limitations between urban and rural Wisconsin also mean that workers' employment options are limited.
- However, Namowicz did share that, as the head of a contract packaging and shipping firm, he's looking to contract with high-paying companies so he can raise his workers' wages. But that effort was underway before Foxconn made it's announcement.
Dive Insight:
Competition comes with doing business. But when a new company enters the region and pays a category of workers considerably more than the going rate, other businesses have to take a look in the mirror.
Company leaders like Namowicz are wise not to panic over the competition, however, because, as he mentioned, many employment factors come into play when recruiting and hiring workers. Employees may very well prefer a job that pays $13 an hour to one paying $14 an hour because it's closer to home or on a bus route.
Employers also can rely on benefits offerings. Health benefits and other perquisites also can be attractive to job candidates. Some offer training or apprenticeships to attract hourly candidates, while also working to close the skills gap in blue-collar jobs .
