HVACR Recruitment a New Approach

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Throughout the HVACR industry, employers continue to struggle to fill open positions with qualified individuals. It is time for us to try a new approach, it’s time for us to talk about COVID.

When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, many Americans quickly found themselves ordered to work from home or went from full-time employment to unemployed overnight. During the same time, a small portion of our workforce, which includes HVACR service personnel, were declared essential, and told to maintain their normal work schedule.

To provide some context, the Bureau of Labor Statics tracks seven hundred occupations, of which only seventeen were declared essential. This places the HVACR workforce in an elite group of imperative jobs, that must always continue.

When discussing the HVACR industry with potential recruits, it is imperative to include the following in any discussion.

HVACR Personnel Service and Maintain:

  • Equipment that stores, transports, and protects the nutritional resources (food) required for human life.
  • Data center cooling systems, which provide internet and phone services, allowing us to hold online meetings, work from home, attend online classes, or stream our favorite movies.
  • Airborne infection isolation rooms (negative pressure), a specialized ICU room that helps prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
  • Research and scientific facilities where medicines and vaccines are created.
  • Cold storage required to store, and transport vaccines at -100 degrees.
  • Maintain chillers that keep refineries processing oil.
  • Indoor air quality and ventilation systems, allowing schools and businesses to re-open.
  • And keep your home comfortable. 

It is our role to educate potential recruits as to the size, and scope of our industry, while providing them a blueprint for possible areas of employment.  While there are so many great attributes to a career in our industry, with COVID-19 fresh on everyone’s mind, it should be a powerful recruitment talking point.

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