Empowering Frontlines: Retaining, Training and Upskilling Industrial Workforce (McKinsey & Company)

Summary

• More than 40% of Gen Z employees in manufacturing are considering leaving their roles within the next 3-6 months.p.5
• Each frontline employee departure could cost businesses about $52,000 annually in recruiting, training, and onboarding.p.4
• Haier halved its key role shortage from 12% to 6% and shortened the promotion cycle by 40%.p.6
• At Haier's Chongqing site, attrition dropped by nearly half, Gen Z satisfaction rose by 43% and average FTE tenure increased by 28%.p.7
• Menzies Aviation reduced voluntary attrition from 35.6% to 25.7% over five years.p.8
• Intenseye sites reported voluntary turnover dropping to 5%, compared to the 11.6% industry average.p.8

Key insights

1. Gen Z staff comprise 81% of the frontline at Haier's Chongqing site.p.7
2. Haier's platform evaluates 12 metrics, including past performance, applicant skills and technical capabilities.p.6
3. Up to 93% of employees at Intenseye sites reported feeling safer.p.8
4. Almost 40% of the core skills for advanced manufacturing are expected to change.p.10
5. Menzies Aviation aims to train the majority of its 10,000 leaders by the end of 2026.p.6
6. In 2025, 6,000 nominations came in for the We Are Menzies Awards across nearly 20 languages.p.8