n 2019, IAPD convened its original Workforce Development Task Force to address our members’ existing and future workforce development needs, develop recommendations on where IAPD can provide the best value to IAPD members, resources to support our members’ recruitment and promotional efforts and ways to best promote careers in the performance plastics industry.

Through conversations with industry leaders, talent acquisition specialists, human resources departments, hiring managers and other research, the task force identified the problem IAPD member companies were facing as a talent disruption in their succession planning and, in some cases, a shortage in their workforce. As their Baby Boomer employees were retiring, not enough of the emerging workforce was entering the performance plastics industry. There were numerous potential reasons for this shortfall of talent:

• Younger employees may have a negative impression of manufacturing in general, thinking it is a dirty, polluting industry that is on a downward trajectory.
• They may have grown up with the message that all plastics are bad, and only think of the negative portrayal of plastics in the media coverage they have seen most of their lives.
• The public is often simply unaware of the distinction between performance plastics and single-use consumer plastics, which is a detriment to the industry when it comes to attracting new talent.
• They may also be unaware of the critical role that distribution plays in the global supply chain and the variety of career opportunities available to them.

Ultimately, what the 2019-2020 IAPD Workforce Development Task Force found was that not only were IAPD companies competing with other local employers and other major industries for employees, as well as the overall shortage of employees, but they were also dealing with issues somewhat unique to our industry.

• Attracting next generation employees
• Negative perceptions about and lack of awareness of performance plastics
• General outdated perception of manufacturing and distribution companies and industries
• Specific challenges of attracting, recruiting and retaining skilled labor

The task force recommended that, by combining financial resources and expertise, IAPD can best serve its members by offering industry-level, company-neutral materials and messaging for members to use in their recruiting efforts, as well as guidance and toolkits for companies that do not have dedicated recruitment personnel and programs.

Video Project
The IAPD task force recommended that IAPD provide videos for members to use in their recruitment efforts. They believed that three videos were needed.

The first video needed to highlight professional career opportunities in performance plastics. The professional positions represent anything from outside to inside sales, marketing, engineering, purchasing, IT, data analysts, accounting, all the way to the C-Suite.

The second video needed to profile the career opportunities for skilled trade employees. CNC router operators, fabricators, machinists, electricians, maintenance, forklift drivers, warehouse personnel — All those who make manufacturing, fabricating and machining performance plastics materials possible.

The third and final video needed to be an overall industry imaging video about the performance plastics industry, the positive environmental attributes of performance plastics and the many exciting, lifesaving and modern applications they are used in. The task force felt strongly about highlighting applications that would appeal to a younger generation workforce.

All three videos would need to show manufacturing and distribution in a modern, vibrant environment, overcoming the outdated perceptions. The task force really wanted to showcase what our member companies look like today and that we did.

The Workforce Development Video Series launched in 2022. They are available for all IAPD members to use freely on their websites, social media accounts and talent recruitment efforts.

In 2021 and early 2022, companies across the United States were battling for talent, especially in the skilled trades. The subgroup met regularly and shared challenges they were facing during the height of these battles, and they also shared their best practices and creative solutions that they found were working for them. They dug deep and shared their expertise with other IAPD members.

This subgroup’s discussions and work resulted in the IAPD Skilled Trades Toolkit — Attracting, Recruiting and Retaining Talent Best Practices & Checklist. This too is a free resource available to all IAPD members upon request or via the QR code above.

IAPD’s Women in Plastics and GenerationNext are ongoing programs that fall under IAPD’s current Workforce Development Initiatives. Even with the success of these programs, the 2024 IAPD Three Pillars Strategy calls for even more to be done in this area.

The 2024 – 2025 Workforce Development Task Force will bring together fresh perspectives and a renewed focus on meeting the needs of our industry today and tomorrow. We are not just filling jobs; we are shaping careers, changing perceptions and creating a future where the performance plastics industry is seen as vibrant, essential and full of opportunity.

At IAPD, we have always believed that we can accomplish more together than we can alone. By continuing to collaborate, share best practices, and leverage our collective strengths, we will ensure that our industry remains strong, resilient and ready for whatever comes next.

But we can’t do it without you. I encourage you to get involved — whether it is by engaging your early-career and younger employees in our GenerationNext program, supporting the Women in Plastics initiative or identifying those in your organization who would be a great fit for the 2024 – 2025 Workforce Development Task Force. Your involvement is key to building the future we all envision.

After all, the future of our industry depends on the people who power it; and we are committed to making sure that future includes the best talent working for us. Let’s make it happen, together.