The landscape industry is plagued with a shortage of responsible labor talent. This condition is not new and continues to deteriorate. There are ways and strategies for handling labor shortages in landscaping and filling the labor gaps.
HOW TO FIND LANDSCAPE EMPLOYEES
The workforce is nowhere to be found. The landscape work is out there in abundance and the landscape revenue is waiting to be claimed. Finding landscape employees is where the majority of landscapers routinely come up short and frequently struggle. Landscape labor shortage solutions require strategic thinking, effective outreach, and marketing savvy. They also need hiring incentives, retention programs, and the forward-thinking use of innovative equipment and partners. Handling labor shortages in landscaping is a difficult, ongoing issue. The trend is for those shortages to become more acute, more widespread, and more troublesome. Below are a number of ways landscapers can get their heads above the rest and attract good quality employees. In addition you’ll find ideas on how to mitigate and handle labor shortages in landscaping.
HANDLING LABOR SHORTAGES IN LANDSCAPING
The numbers are real and daunting:
- In 2024, the landscape services industry commanded a market size of approximately $153 billion.
- This revenue total is based on 661,000 landscaping operations.
- These companies employed on the order of 1.2 million landscaping employees.
Handling labor shortages in landscaping, as any landscape professional knows, is a massive challenge for employers who are faced with high turnover, stifled growth, and missed opportunities. Those labor shortages are occurring across the wide spectrum of landscape labor positions, from general laborers, groundskeeping workers, municipal employees, to tree trimmers and supervisory titles. There is no area of the landscaping industry that is untouched by this crucial labor deficit.
Despite the challenging numbers, despite this significant lack of reliable labor, this industry is loaded with potential just waiting to be fulfilled. This is true even with the ongoing labor constraints:
- Expansion continues to happen, as we have seen an average of 4.9% growth from 2018 to 2023.
- This includes a very impressive 15.7% increase in the year 2023.
Finding landscape employees never fails to top landscape contractors or public works departments lists of critical must-dos and must-haves. There is tremendous potential to be realized for those companies and organizations that can create their own landscape labor shortage solution—for those that can field proper crews and/or harness the innovative technology to fulfill this very real demand. While the wider landscape industry struggles to find suitable employees, there are ways you can find landscape employees and keep them.
MAKE YOUR BUSINESS FINDABLE
This applies as much to being easily accessible to potential customers as it does to potential employees. There may have been a time when you could simply slap a “Help Wanted” sign on your window and have dozens of hard-working candidates to choose from—no more. Go where the job seekers are seeking:
Job Boards
Posting on job boards, like Indeed, Glassdoor, and Craigslist, allow you to better target potential employees. You’ll need to write up a brief and clear description of whom you’re looking for and let it go to work for you.
Social Media
While job boards are working the internet for your next superstar employee, you can also bolster your social media reach with job opening posts via your own social media accounts.
Website Career Page
If you have a website... and yes, you should have a website—be sure to have a page devoted to careers and hiring. List specific openings and invite general applications.
Physical Signs & Print Ads
Wait, didn’t we say the “Help Wanted” sign was dead? Perhaps we spoke too bluntly. If you have a physical space in an area with foot traffic and visibility, a well-made sign can be helpful. As are newspaper ads in local, and even neighborhood, publications.
Employee Referral Program
Nothing beats a strong referral from someone you trust. Getting recommendations for new employees from current employees is a great way to fill vacancies. Also, create an incentive of a small monetary reward or time-off for references that stick.
GO AFTER NEW EMPLOYEES
The resources and tactics previously mentioned are essential in the effort to attract landscape employees. Deploying these tactics will create a solid base toward relieving your persistent labor shortage. Your odds of securing missing talent and increasing your employment attractiveness can be further enhanced by drilling down a bit more.
Facebook Targeting Features
Get your Facebook job opening post in front of people who actually match the skills and situations you’re looking for. Localize and customize for your area and your specific needs.
Spread The Word
Ask your employees and your vendors to share your employment posts—spread the word and share the wealth. When job openings come via trusted sources, the better the conversion rate.
Share The Bounty
Having an Employee Referral Program is smart, expanding that monetary reward to any successful referral is genius. Turn your entire network into recruiters. The ROI on this modest outlay is highly recommended. (New employees must pass a probationary period before rewards are paid out.)
Profit From Non-Profits
Reach out to local non-profit organizations who advocate for clientele who may be seeking employment to improve their situations. These can be organizations aiding immigrants, veterans, and others looking for a leg up. Often the non-profit has thoroughly vetted the candidates.
Internships & Apprenticeships
Build your own labor pool from within. Internships can be paid or can be offered as academic credit with nearby colleges—the combination of youth and enthusiasm can be a great boost to any company. Apprenticeships have a long history of success by learning on the job from experienced pros.
IMPROVE EMPLOYEE RETENTION
What answer do we hear time and time again to the question, “What’s your company’s most important asset?” Of course, some will want to say it’s their seriously tricked-out truck, but the most frequent answer is, “Our people.”
If you have great employees, you absolutely want to hang on to them. Retaining landscape employees is generally easier than finding landscape employees, but no less important. The difficult task of finding good people should make every employer all the more willing to create a work environment that keeps workers happy and on the job. Landscape labor shortage solutions begin with the quality of the workplace. Motivated and skilled workers know how to handle equipment properly, are more efficient, more customer-savvy, safer, and just better for business. Simply put, make your business a more desirable option than your competitors business to potential employees.
Benefits
Offer solid benefits and support. Health benefits including dental and vision insurance are welcome perks. Time off, sick pay, and parental leave all demonstrate a company’s concern for a work-life balance.
Equipment
Providing state-of-the-art tools and equipment, plus giving safety a high priority go a long way toward employee satisfaction. In addition to pleasing your employees, they’ll be more effective on the job.
Compensation
It likely goes without saying, but we’re going to say it anyway—good and competitive pay is of course an obvious selling point.
Status
Lastly, when an employer offers “careers” vs “jobs” a certain level of respect and value are established and appreciated. Employees with pride in their work are worth every effort.
EQUIP YOUR EMPLOYEES WITH RC MOWERS ROBOTIC MOWERS
We at RC Mowers know that there is no substitute for a reliable, loyal, and skilled employee. The fact is, good workers are scarce. At RC Mowers, our entire brand is built on redefining the business of mowing and solving your labor issues.
Our Autonomous Mowing Robots™allow you to earn the same revenue with one-third the labor force. While solving labor you’re also creating a value-enhanced work environment for your people and boosting retention.
Our Remote-Operated Robotic Mowers provide operations the opportunity to do lucrative specialty work with a fraction of the labor force, in record time, and under exceptionally safe conditions.
A hybrid strategy of smart hiring and innovative RC Mowers technology can take your business to the next level... and, most likely, a level or two beyond next-level.
Contact us about a demonstration. We’ll bring the machines and the solutions directly to you.
