Germany, who builds your machines? Mechanical engineering is one of Germany’s most important industries—and thus also one of its largest employers. However, the shortage of skilled workers is also acute in this sector, as many companies struggle to find qualified specialists. This is where mechanical engineering recruitment consultants come in.
Recruitment consultants in the mechanical engineering sector help companies find suitable candidates for their open positions. Read this article to learn why this is so difficult and what’s important.
In summary :
– The number of vacancies in construction companies has quadrupled since 2010
– Companies can help, especially in recruiting, to overcome staff shortages
– Riverstate offers tailor-made personnel consulting for the construction industry
This is how bad the staff shortage in mechanical engineering is
Mechanical engineers are as in demand as ever, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the EY SME Barometer, 78 percent of all medium-sized companies in the mechanical engineering sector are struggling to find management and skilled workers. 18 percent even report finding it “very difficult” to recruit.
The problem particularly affects manufacturing: One-third of all medium-sized companies are unable to fill positions as hoped due to a simple lack of adaptable applicants. Even management positions remain vacant at 17 percent of companies.
Digitalization requires new skills
One reason for the shortage of qualified candidates in mechanical and plant engineering is advancing digitalization. It is currently transforming the world of work and turning entire industries upside down. Digital skills are also becoming increasingly important in mechanical engineering, for example, in the areas of AI, data analysis, machine learning, and automation.
Digitalization has already significantly changed mechanical engineering jobs, and in the future, the industry will need to rely even more on talented individuals with digital skills. However, many specialists and managers still lack the necessary know-how because aspects such as data analysis have not played a role in their daily work.
Recruiting 2.0: How to find qualified mechanical engineers
Many companies are competing for the best mechanical engineering talent. Especially for medium-sized companies, it’s difficult to keep up with the larger players—especially if they simply continue recruiting as before.
Because external circumstances are changing, you should also adapt your talent search to the new circumstances. To find the right mechanical engineers for your company despite staff shortages, you need to pursue innovative recruiting approaches and stay one step ahead of the competition in your search for staff. For example, with these methods:
Don’t forget the passive applicant market
With newspaper ads and job postings on online portals, you only reach mechanical engineers who are actively looking for a new position. This ignores a huge applicant pool that remains invisible with traditional recruiting methods: There are countless skilled workers who are dissatisfied with their current jobs and are fundamentally open to a change. In Germany, their number is currently higher than ever. With a personnel consultant or headhunter for mechanical engineering, you can reach a much larger pool of potential applicants.
- How can Riverstate help?
With our direct placement service, you can find specialists and managers in the fields of mechanical and plant engineering. Using innovative search methods, we not only target actively seeking talent, but also bring you to the attention of talented individuals looking to change careers – discreetly and personally.
Dare to look beyond Germany’s borders
When skilled workers become scarce in Germany, it’s always worth looking abroad. However, cross-border recruitment can be a significant challenge, especially for medium-sized companies, due to legal, bureaucratic, and language barriers.
- How can Riverstate help?
With Riverstate’s EU recruiting, you can increase your chances of success and extend your reach for suitable mechanical engineering specialists, even outside of the EU. We take care of the bureaucracy, organization, legal issues, and language barriers.
Social Media Recruiting in Mechanical Engineering
If you want to reach a large number of talented individuals in the most targeted, personalized, and mass way possible, social media is your best option: Here you can define custom target groups, such as mechanical engineering talent in a specific region, and tailor your communications to them.
But of course, every social network plays by different rules and there are many aspects that need to be considered when addressing candidates correctly on social media.
- How can Riverstate help?
With Riverstate’s social media recruiting, you can leverage the reach of social media to target the best mechanical engineering candidates.
Personnel consulting: Riverstate for your search in mechanical engineering
Are you looking for mechanical engineering talent? Riverstate will find them! With many years of experience in the mechanical and plant engineering sectors, we know what makes talent tick and what’s important in the search. More than 400 satisfied customers speak for themselves: You can find a selection of our successes in our references.
The advantages of Riverstate at a glance:
- Specialized in Engineering & Construction.
We know what we do best and focus on our strengths. Fortunately, these lie in the placement of specialists and managers in the fields of engineering and construction. This means we have excellent connections with the best mechanical engineering talent in the industry and can find the perfect candidates for your position faster. - Close collaboration with on-site setup day.
A phone call isn’t enough for us: We visit you on setup day and get to know your company, your employees, and the gap you want to fill. Experience shows that our curiosity pays off because it helps us find not only the best mechanical engineers, but also the right people for the job. - Targeted project management for medium-sized businesses:
Time, budget, and quality: We understand the requirements of medium-sized companies and have perfectly tailored our processes to them. With Riverstate, your search for mechanical engineering talent becomes a meticulously planned project with plausibly achievable goals.
Mechanical Engineering HR Consulting – Frequently Asked Questions
The fee charged by a recruitment agency is generally based on the expected annual salary of the talent placed. It is usually around 30% of this amount, but this can vary depending on the effort involved in the search and other criteria—for example, industry or region.
A human resources consultant supports companies in their search for staff and provides additional consulting services related to recruiting. Their range of services is thus more comprehensive than that of a recruitment agency: HR consultants use more complex search methods and also support companies with aspects such as employer branding and project management.
For recruitment, a recruitment consultant first creates a candidate profile in collaboration with the company seeking a candidate and then begins the search. The most important search methods include direct contact, i.e., specifically approaching specific candidates, or social media recruiting, i.e., reaching out to potential applicants via social networks. In addition, a recruitment consultant also supports companies with aspects such as employer branding, applicant management, onboarding, and the optimization of all these processes.
