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The once-held belief in the wood products manufacturing sector that salaries and employee benefits must stay low in order to increase profits appears to have been pushed aside for more enlightened policy adjustments that bring about the long-term benefits of a stable workforce, reveals Modern Woodworkingâs 2003 Annual Labor Survey.

In Modern Woodworkingâs pilot study conducted in 2000, only 60 percent of respondents reported being able to keep their employee turnover rates under 20 percent. A year later, those able to keep their employee turnover rates below 20 percent grew to 80 percent. Now in 2003, that number has again risen to 86 percent.

To further support the evidence that wood products manufacturers are implementing strategies to retain valuable employees, 86 percent of respondents reported that they have increased wages in the last two years. Of those 86 percent who increased wages, 18 percent said it was due to a tight labor market, 62 percent due to normal increases in cost of living and 11 percent because jobs have become more technical.  Fifty-six percent of respondents claim to have increased employee benefits in the last two years.

The picture is not all rosy however. A whopping 84 percent of respondents report their health-care insurance costs have risen this past year. Overall, employee recruitment is still an ongoing priority as 78 percent of this yearâs respondents claim they are still very concerned or concerned about finding employees.

Fifty-seven percent report they are turning to automation to compensate for the skilled worker shortage. As companies turn to automation, another issue often arises ÷ that of an increased labor need in the engineering office.

Sixty-three percent of respondents report finding it difficult to find employees with software expertise or engineering backgrounds. Yet when asked if they participated in high school or college programs to stimulate interest in careers in woodworking, 61 percent admitted they did not.

Perhaps implementing strategies to retain employees takes on more value due to the investment companies are making in training their employees.

Equipment operation leads the way with 82 percent of respondents reporting that as a training effort. Equipment maintenance follows at 56 percent. Interestingly, also prominent were employee enhancement training sessions such as leadership training with 36 percent of respondents offering it, along with project management at 28 percent and computer/ administrative training at 34 percent.

What other issues were deemed important for the retention of employees? As in 2001, once again workers being treated with respect (92 percent) and level of pay (89 percent) appeared at the top of the charts. Other issues that were reported as critical or very important were time off (52 percent), regular schedules (69 percent), opportunity for advancement (54 percent), quality of equipment (44 percent) and OSHA compliance (57 percent).

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