Recruiting construction staff in a tight labour market: 3 smart strategies

There's still a shortage of construction staff. It's been going on for so long that it's high time to look at creative and less obvious strategies for recruitment in construction. We'll give you some tips to bring in new colleagues before your competitors do.

1.   Look in the right place: social media

Modern recruitment challenges call for modern solutions and recruitment methods. Recruiting through social media has become an essential part of today's recruitment world. Construction staff mainly hang out on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Looking for young construction staff? Then you can also recruit via TikTok. With catchy content and USPs that specifically appeal to construction workers, you'll see success in no time.

Outsourcing online recruitment

Advertising vacancies may be a smart move, but there's quite a lot involved. You might lack knowledge of online advertising, punchy and persuasive writing or designing creative visuals, and then you still have to call every candidate the campaign brings in. Besides the knowledge you might be missing, it also takes a lot of time. Do you have the people for that? You can also choose to outsource your recruitment. With RPO, an external recruitment agency takes over every step for you: they create a campaign, track the results and get in touch with candidates. That saves you time and stress!

USPs for construction staff

What do people in construction really find interesting in a vacancy? The salary is always worth mentioning. Can someone also grow, and if so, into which role(s)? What training opportunities are there? What's your company culture like and how does it show in a working day? These are all examples of things many construction workers care about.

Advertising with your own visuals

Striking visuals are vital in an online campaign. They make your ad stand out and give candidates an instant picture of their potential future colleagues and workplace. A modern smartphone camera can already take great photos, but you can also bring in an external agency for this. The photos are then taken with a professional camera and edited too. That way you'll have superb visuals for years to come.

You can also use your own photos on your website, in organic social posts, in mailings... The possibilities are endless. One thing's for sure: wherever you use these photos, they'll definitely bring more attention to and trust in your company.

2.   Widen your target group: women in construction

It's tempting to fixate on a group of people you simply expect to work, or want to work, in construction. Construction staff covers much more than just men over 45. There really are women already working in construction, for example, who may not feel addressed by your ads full of male construction workers. A diverse and inclusive approach is therefore a smart move for your recruitment strategy.

Plenty of women would quite like to work in construction, but may not have any experience yet. So don't underestimate the value of (internal or external) training!

3.   Retraining and upskilling

Not managing to hire experienced construction staff? Then there's also the option of hiring less experienced staff and training them. You can work with construction training providers, so your new colleagues learn new skills in an effective and professional way. It's also possible to provide training in-house. Bear in mind, though, that most people in construction prefer to work with their hands. So practical training will probably make more of a difference than long lessons and dry theory.

Besides making it easier for you as an employer to find and hire less qualified staff, you can also see this strategy as an attractive selling point for your new colleagues. The USP of free training can persuade ambitious (young) tradespeople to apply with you rather than with a competitor.

So: think creatively and stay ahead of the pack

By thinking about recruitment in new, less obvious ways, you can recruit faster and more effectively than the rest. You'll soon be ahead when it comes to recruitment, and that schedule will be full again in no time. Could you use some help with creative recruitment in construction? Let's take a look at it together!