Employers Creating New Job Opportunities in Madison
Unconventional schedules, on-the-job training, and a special emphasis on diversity and inclusion are helping companies meet their needs in today's workforce.
Many employers are creating new job opportunities in Madison and the surrounding communities by offering a variety of incentives and programs tailor-made for today’s workforce.
As the demand for well-trained employees is felt more than ever, employers are opening doors for more qualified candidates by implementing unconventional work schedules, offering on-the-job training and placing a special emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
Diverse and Inclusive
For example, Dodgeville-based clothing and home goods retailer Lands’ End is particularly focused on the latter approach.
“Diversity and inclusion is an absolute priority and long-term commitment for us here at Lands’ End,” says Rosana Ellman, the company’s senior director for human resources. “We have in place several initiatives with the goal of creating and inspiring a culture that is welcoming, safe and inclusive for all.”
To illustrate, Ellman points out Lands’ End’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, which serves as an advocate for diversity and inclusion initiatives. The council consists of a mix of leaders from various departments, who build, engage and mobilize positive strategies to ensure an inclusive environment for all.
Another part of the company’s efforts to ensure diversity among its employees is to consider the wide range of skills and experiences within its pool of job applicants. This includes keeping eyes and ears open for potentially hiring candidates who are bilingual.
“We believe our greatest asset is the combination of our peoples’ unique experiences, backgrounds and talents,” Ellman says. “When hiring, we do look for people who will bring a new perspective to Lands’ End through language and culture. This is true of hiring throughout our ranks, including leadership positions.”
Bottom line, Ellman says, taking these steps to ensure employees from all backgrounds are made to feel welcome within the culture of Lands’ End is absolutely necessary.
“These initiatives are imperative to our success as a company,” she says. “We say that Lands’ End is a great place to shop and a great place to work – our diversity and inclusion efforts are a big part of this motto, making our customers and employees feel welcome.”
Manufacturing Might
Manufacturers in Wisconsin account for 18.6% of the total output in the state, employing nearly 17% of the workforce, according to a report from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
Hands-On Approach
As a part of one of the state’s largest industry sectors, manufacturing companies are especially interested in talent attraction.
At Blackhawk Technical College, students are getting on-the-job training through the school’s apprenticeship program, with a particular focus on many different career paths. This hands-on approach provides students – indeed, employees of various manufacturers – with not only a well-rounded education in their field of study but also a career and national industry certification.
In turn, industrial and construction companies are benefiting through their partnerships with Blackhawk Technical College. Its apprenticeship program works hand in hand with companies through Wisconsin’s technical college system.
“The win-win is very much in line with the earn-and-learn model,” says Greg Phillips, dean of Blackhawk’s apprenticeship, manufacturing, technology and transportation programs. “With our apprenticeship program, the majority of time (for students) is on the job. And in the structured program that Wisconsin has, you’re paired with a mentor, an already skilled journey worker that guides you through specific tasks over a specific number of hours in on-the-job training.”
Through both its construction and industrial apprenticeships, Blackhawk works with several employers in the Madison Region, including Badger State Ethanol, Baker Manufacturing, Bell Laboratories, Faith Engineering, Frito-Lay, Grande Cheese, Klondike Cheese Co., Pratt Industries, Scot Forge and Seneca Foods, among others.
“Partnering with Blackhawk Technical College has been essential in helping provide quality employees and students to our work,” says Kelly Crosby from Scot Forge in Clinton. “It’s a great apprenticeship program, a great earn-while-you-learn program, which provides on-the-job training with related instruction. It has helped us face a lot of the challenges in the talent pipeline by obtaining quality students.”
Teel Plastics Wins Top Honor
Teel Plastics, the Sauk County-based, family-owned company was recognized as Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year in 2022.
Teel is a custom plastics manufacturer that performs extrusion and injection molding work for customers around the world involved in markets such as water treatment, disposable medical products, cosmetics packaging, industrial piping and plastic cores for specialty films. The company, founded more than 70 years ago, operates four manufacturing facilities in Baraboo with about 425 total employees.
“We won previously in the medium business category, and the win last year was for the large business category,” says Christian Herrild, Teel Plastics’ director of growth strategies. “We want to continue to excel and eventually take on the mega category.”
Herrild says Teel continues to expand and invest in new capacity across its business portfolio, including the recent addition of three new lines to support the company’s industrial pipe division. Teel is also planning to double the output of manufactured products in its medical clean room.
The company finds the Madison Region an ideal place to do business. “We have access to the world-class University of Wisconsin-Madison and can do collaborative development work with them,” he says. “In addition, the UW-Madison’s Division of Extension and Madison Area Technical College are great resources for custom or specific skill-based training. And outside of work, there is also a great mix of urban and rural activities for everyone to be engaged.”
The company is targeting 30 to 50 new positions this year, which would double its headcount from the end of 2020, Herrild says.
Herrild says Teel is an attractive place to work thanks to good benefits, training advancement opportunities and a positive atmosphere.
“We have a great culture and really invest in our people – we have a dedicated training department and we support advancement,” he says. “There are people at all levels of the organization, from plant managers to development engineers, who started on the floor running machines and packing boxes. If our people have the attitude, we will work with them to develop a career at Teel.”
– Staff writer Kevin Litwin contributed to this article.
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