Case Study: Delivering 68 candidates in 90 days

TalentBridge’s Metro Chicago manufacturing staffing solutions team is proud to support a manufacturer of medical devices in the greater Chicago area. This manufacturer produces specialized plastic injection mold items in a clean room environment. Our client, a medical device manufacturer, came to us with time sensitive staffing needs including two projects when they needed to quickly add injection mold operators to their specialized manufacturing team.

Project 1: Supporting industrial staffing during historic low unemployment 

The Situation

Our client came to us in 2018 with a need to hire 68 people – 60 Machine Operators and eight Sr. Technicians – in 90 days. Due to historic low unemployment rates that were creating an industrial staffing worker shortage, wage competition for the best talent was at an all-time high. To ensure our client’s manufacturing staffing success, TalentBridge worked side by side with the client’s HR team to develop a plan for their recruitment process.

The Solution

With so many jobs to fill in a competitive market and under a strict and tight timeline, the Goodwill TalentBridge team needed to take an out-of-the-box approach. Using a combination of local market data, expanded resources, and innovative thinking, we got the job done. 

First, we worked with our client to understand the skills and experience required to be successful in these jobs, then provided recommendations around competitive pay that would attract the most qualified candidates. 

Then, we tapped into our well-established local networks and resources to uncover and engage with more than 4,700 job seekers who met our client’s criteria. 

Finally, we implemented an entirely new interviewing and onboarding process that reduced the time from job application to first day of work by 7 days, which prevented our client from losing candidates to other offers while still ensuring hiring compliance and a positive candidate experience.  

The Results

Thanks to our thorough recruiting processes, we were able to present a well-qualified slate of candidates for our client’s machine operator roles, filling the jobs quickly and efficiently.

• All open roles filled within 90 days
• Outreach to more than 4,700 candidates
• Presented 96 potential employees
• 93 candidates were given offers of employment
• 68 Started

Project 2: Providing staffing expertise to quickly fill 40 positions 

The Situation

A few years later, our client landed a production contract that required a quick ramp up, including hiring 40 Plastic Injection Mold Machine Operators. Remembering our successful partnership, they again turned to TalentBridge to work alongside their talent acquisition team. This side-by-side partnership allowed the client’s internal HR team to focus on the aspect of the onboarding process they were best at while TalentBridge could use our extensive resources to uncover “hidden” candidates in their local market.  

The Solution

Although job seeking, interviewing and hiring has drastically changed since our relationship with this client first began, the basics of TalentBridge’s previous strategy was so successful, we were able to adapt it to a more digital and online way of finding candidates and promoting jobs. By coupling our vast community connections with an online outreach strategy, we uncovered nearly 4,500 job seekers. Candidates were invited to an on-site job fair, which was staffed primarily by TalentBridge associates. Working 2 at a time, we pre-screened candidates and offered facility tours, which ended with job offers for qualified candidates. 

The Results

Once again, the TalentBridge team’s innovative approach to manufacturing staffing and recruiting paid off.

• Outreach to 4483
• 92 Submitted candidates presented
• 48 offers of employment
• 41 started

By working with Goodwill TalentBridge, this manufacturer has been able to benefit from our experience with a variety of manufacturing companies for many years. Our side-by-side partnership helped the client benefit from our specialized talent solutions and our proficiency in the health care and manufacturing fields. 

Goodwill TalentBridge continues to partner with this client to fill a variety of roles throughout their organization.