UK manufacturers and suppliers are under more pressure than ever to attract, retain and support skilled people. High staff turnover, rising costs and the day-to-day realities of running site-based, shift-led operations all put strain on businesses and their teams. At the same time, expectations around social value, wellbeing and ESG are growing, and rightly so.
The challenge is a familiar one. Traditional benefits such as private medical insurance or enhanced sick pay often work for office-based or salaried staff, but they don’t always scale well across large, deskless or shift-based workforces. That can leave a big part of the workforce feeling overlooked, even though they are the people keeping factories, depots and sites running and output moving.
Recent research highlighted in a new manufacturing-focused white paper from Personal Group underlines just how important this group remains. While AI and automation are changing many roles, frontline manufacturing and supply chain jobs are far less likely to be replaced and are much more likely to evolve. In other words, this workforce is here to stay, which makes investment in wellbeing, resilience and engagement not just the right thing to do, but a practical business decision too.
The paper also points to the real cost of churn. With average UK turnover sitting at around 27 per cent and the cost of replacing a single employee running into tens of thousands of pounds once recruitment, training and lost productivity are taken into account, keeping experienced people in place matters. Add the impact of absence, overtime and pressure on remaining teams, and the business case becomes even clearer.
One of the key messages is that benefits and protection do not have to be complicated or expensive to make a difference. Simple, accessible benefits platforms combined with straightforward workplace protection can give employees real peace of mind, while helping employers improve engagement, reduce absence and support retention. Crucially, these approaches can be made available to everyone across a business, not just a small group of staff.
This is also where social value and ESG come into play. Benefits that reach the whole workforce, and in some cases extend to families and households, help build financial resilience, reduce stress around unexpected illness or injury, and strengthen the link between employers and the communities they operate in. That is social impact you can measure and stand behind.
As part of its work to support members on workforce and business sustainability, the CEA has partnered with Personal Group to make Hapi, its employee benefits and wellbeing platform, available to members. Hapi is designed to work for site-based and deskless teams as well as office staff, giving employees straightforward access to benefits and wellbeing support in one place.
Viki Bell, CEO of the CEA, said:
“Looking after people properly is not a ‘nice to have’ – it’s fundamental to building resilient, sustainable businesses across manufacturing and the supply chain. Our members are facing real pressures around skills, retention, and costs, and they need solutions that work in the real world, not just on paper. By partnering with Personal Group and making Hapi available to members, we’re giving businesses a practical way to support their whole workforce, including site-based and deskless teams, while also strengthening their social value and long-term sustainability.”
For manufacturers and suppliers, the message is simple. The workforce that keeps this industry moving is not going away. Investing in practical, inclusive benefits and protection is one of the most direct ways to support your people, protect productivity and build stronger, more stable businesses for the long term.
CEA members can download the full white paper from Personal Group here 👇
link to Personal Group white paper
For manufacturers and suppliers who want to find out more about Hapi and how CEA members can access the platform, please visit 👉
https://thecea.org.uk/workforce