Factory jobs can't be done from home, but they can be flexible - btbirkett@gmail.com - Gmail

Factory jobs can't be done from home, but they can be flexible - btbirkett@gmail.com - Gmail

In Louisville, GE Appliances has also partnered with Catholic Charities and Kentucky Refugee Ministries to hire a group of displaced Afghani and Congolese workers. The company last year joined the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit founded by Chobani Chief Executive Officer Hamdi Ulukaya that encourages refugee hiring and advises members on how to build effective programs. 

Roper worked with MyWorkChoice to build and train a pool of 1,500 people that the company can tap into to fill staffing shortfalls, Ingram said. On a given day, about 200 people from the MyWorkChoice pool work at the company’s Georgia facility, which has a total workforce of 2,500. One big selling point of MyWorkChoice for Roper was that the 1,500-person pool of workers was built specific to its plant

Separately, Roper this month implemented a new work schedule for assembly roles and supporting departments that allows employees to work 10-hour shifts and then enjoy three-day weekends. That’s more flexibility than most salaried workers in other industries get. 

Flexible scheduling is just one prong of GE Appliances’ many efforts to adapt its workforce practices for the available labor pool. GE Appliances used to require a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) test, but the company relaxed that hiring condition during the pandemic and hasn’t reinstated it, Good said. The company also used to require English language skills for workers on the factory floor so that employees could read signs with operational and safety information. Investing in translators and posting information in multiple languages allowed it to drop that barrier as well, which provided a particular boost to the number of Latin American and Hispanic workers in its factories,