If Not Now, Then When
The workforce your foundry needs tomorrow depends on the decisions you make today.
You know your foundry could do better at recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and retaining employees. You have talked about improving your hiring process, giving new employees a stronger start, and understanding why good people leave. But when are you going to decide that it is time to work on it?
After the next busy season? When another experienced employee retires? When you win a new contract and realize you do not have enough people to fulfill it?
Running a foundry means managing competing priorities every day. Workforce development is easy to put off when production demands your immediate attention. Yet every unfilled position, unsuccessful hire, and preventable departure adds to that pressure. Waiting has a cost, even when it does not appear as a separate line on your financial statement.
CastYourFuture.org highlights an estimated 230,000-plus job openings by 2030. For foundry leaders, that raises an immediate question: Are you preparing for the people you will need to replace retiring employees, support expansion, and keep your operation competitive?
An equipment purchase can increase your capacity. A new customer can create an opportunity for growth. Both depend on having people who can do the work. Building that workforce takes time, and the best time to begin is before the need becomes a crisis.
The Talent Pipeline Program (TPP) empowers companies with practical tools to improve their talent acquisition and retention systems. It helps employers examine how they attract candidates, identify the right fit, prepare employees for the realities of the job, and support them through onboarding and beyond.
That means taking a closer look at the entire employee experience. Are you giving candidates an honest picture of the work? Is a new employee’s first day organized and welcoming? Do supervisors have the tools to help people succeed? Are you checking in during the first 30, 60, and 90 days, or waiting until someone struggles or leaves?
These are systems you can improve. TPP provides a framework, coaching, and accountability to help you turn good intentions into consistent practices.
NFFS offers a unique opportunity: the only cohort in the Talent Pipeline Program dedicated specifically to the metalcasting industry. While other cohorts are organized regionally, the NFFS cohort brings foundries together across geographic boundaries. Participants can learn alongside peers who understand foundry operations and share many of the same workforce challenges.
That industry-specific focus also reflects recognition within the defense industrial base of the importance of castings. Reliable casting production depends on a capable, stable workforce. Strengthening how foundries recruit, develop, and retain employees supports both individual companies and the supply chains that depend on them.
Participation is an opportunity to work on your business with support from people who understand it. But the program cannot make the decision for you. Leadership must commit the time, involve the right people, and follow through.
Hire for Fit. Train for Skill. Retain for Life. That philosophy begins with a decision to improve the way you build your workforce.
Contact NFFS to learn how your foundry can join its Talent Pipeline Program cohort. Take the first step while you have time to prepare for what comes next.
You already know your workforce deserves attention. If not now, then when?