Workforce Impact

Branding is a top action item stemming from the study.  Per the data collected, 95 percent of the industry has moderate to severe challenges in making bakery manufacturing appealing to qualified candidates, and 89 percent struggle to make qualified candidates aware of production employment opportunities in the baking industry.  

Lack of formal training programs is a major concern for the baking industry.

ABA's training and professional development programs can help Members meet training needs.

Retention is a major issue for the baking industry. Ninety percent of companies reported that difficult working hours and shifts created a challenge in retaining employees. Other top retention challenges include understaffing the production floor (84%) and undertrained first-line supervision (83%). Eight in ten companies reported retention issues due to the challenging manufacturing environment and first-year retention issues.