Top Benefits Blue-Collar Workers Find Most Attractive

Based on a recent survey conducted by LANDED

A car drives up to a fast-food restaurant drive-thru only to see a hand-made sign that reads: “Sorry. Not enough workers tonight. Closed.”
 
This scene is becoming increasingly common across the United States. Staffing shortages have caused long lines and temporary closures—not only at restaurants but in other blue-collar industries as well. 
 
But there has to be a way to attract workers back to jobs.

LANDED recently surveyed over 1000 hourly workers to find out what benefits they would find most attractive when job hunting. Read on to find out which ranked highest… 

#1: Paid Vacation and Sick Time (69 Percent)

 Everyone needs some downtime now and then—especially in blue-collar industries, which tend to be physically demanding and exhausting jobs. 
 
However, blue-collar workers are typically paid hourly. This provides an incentive to work more hours to earn more money. Overtime, which is often paid at a time-and-a-half rate, further incentivizes workers to work to the point of burnout.
 
Offering paid vacation to rest and recover can be a huge selling point for prospects, leading them to contact a company about an open position. 
 
Also in the paid time off (PTO) category is sick time, which has become increasingly important in the Covid-era. Workers know the dangers of falling ill, and they may worry about caring for a sick child or elderly relative. 
 
Ultimately, two-thirds of respondents cited PTO as an important benefit, earning it the top spot in the survey results. 

#2: Flexible Scheduling (65 Percent)

The pandemic taught all of us a lot about flexibility. But while many white-collar employees worked remotely, fewer blue-collar employees had that chance. 
 
Blue-collar employees still want options though, with flexible scheduling landing second on the benefits survey list. 65% of respondents thought that scheduling options would stand out to them when job hunting. 
 
Some retailers and food/hospitality companies, for instance, are starting to let workers set their own schedules. With self-scheduling, employee engagement rates go up. 
 
Other companies are simply listening to employees and offering choices between full-time and part-time, four-day and five-day work weeks, and days and nights. Some employers offer the chance for a split shift: The employee works eight hours a day but with a longer-than-usual break in the middle.
 
Life can be busy and unpredictable. A candidate wants to see that their potential employer recognizes that and is ready to work with them.  

#3: Competitive Pay and Health Insurance (63 Percent—Tie!)

 Well, this one is pretty clear. Everyone wants to be paid fairly for the job they do, right? 
 
But what exactly is competitive pay? 
 
Competitive pay means that the position pays as well as (or better than) similar jobs in the market. This wage is dependent on the person’s years of experience, region/location, job title, industry, and market conditions. 
 
So, a line cook with five years of experience would hope that she would be offered a similar hourly rate at one burger joint in Dallas as she made at another. 
 
63% of respondents found competitive pay to be enticing while job hunting. The same percentage of respondents also called health insurance a sought-after benefit.
 
As healthcare costs rise, workers find continued value in their employers’ contributions. Health insurance provides reassurance that employees can access medical coverage in case of an unexpected accident or illness.  

Creating a Win-Win Situation

By offering benefits attractive to blue-collar workers, companies can help fill more positions and create happy employees.

Vivian Wang is the Founder & CEO of LANDED. She and the LANDED team are building the fastest way for the 90M hourly workers in the US to land jobs at essential restaurant and hospitality like Panera, Cava, Chick-fil-A & more. After graduating from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, Vivian worked in roles ranging from advising European central banks on financial markets strategy at BlackRock and launching the Asia & EMEA markets at real estate tech company, Matterport (NASDAQ: MTTR), to leading special projects for the C-suite at Gap, Inc., owner of Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta, and Intermix.  Connect Vivian Wang