This article appeared in the Jan/Feb 2024 issue of MiMfg Magazine. Read the full issue and find past issues online.

Manufacturing and warehousing jobs require skillsets that can be challenging to find through everyday hiring platforms. At the same time, these businesses see fluctuations in their employment needs based on seasons, times of the day and societal demands. These fluctuations can lead to unnecessary expenses and inefficiencies.

Founded in 2017, Veryable exists to help manufacturing and warehousing businesses augment their teams and navigate these fluctuations while ensuring that qualified workers are available when needed.

With Veryable’s real-time app and web-based platform, businesses can post job opportunities where skilled and vetted operators “bid” for them. Payments are handled in the system and businesses can provide ratings and compile a list of preferred operators that they can call on to complement their teams when needed.

Made for Manufacturing

“We’ve created a tool for manufacturers to access the population they wouldn’t otherwise have access to,” says Josh Mote, Director of Partnerships for Veryable’s West Region, which includes the greater Detroit and Grand Rapids areas.

More than 35,000 operators in Michigan and 1.2 million across the country have signed up with Veryable. They are typically retirees, college students, stay-at-home parents and others looking for supplemental income.

“They all come from manufacturing and warehousing backgrounds, and that’s what we want,” he says. “We want people who can say, ‘I’ve been there. I’ve lived it. We can tell those stories. We know what it looks like.’”

Through Veryable, managers who are on the production floor and see day-to-day operations can use the program to identify when they need help and how many workers they need.

Stabilizing Workforce Numbers

Many manufacturers find themselves in the same scenarios. When it’s busy, they must hire more workers but, when demands decrease, they send them home or pay them without having the same amount of work coming in. Then, when work picks back up, they must find workers again and the cycle continues.

Veryable’s goal is to ensure that businesses know who they can call on to augment their teams only when needed, particularly if they have a list of preferred operators.

“Our attendance rate hovers around 97 percent, so they know these people will be there when they say they will,” Mote says. “Traditionally, manufacturers always had to staff to an average. With Veryable, they can get to an ideal headcount.”

Expectations within the labor force have shifted significantly in recent years, Mote says, challenging the notion that there is a shortage of available workers. He contends that there is a shortage of people who want to work 40 to 50 hours a week and Veryable’s unique structure can help manufacturers tap into that portion of the labor pool. In fact, an average of 8.5 bids are received for every opportunity posted through Veryable, he says.

“There’s this mind shift happening where people want to work on their own terms, and this is providing people with that possibility,” Mote says, adding that this concept opens up a lot of options for businesses as well.

Veryable’s mission is to revitalize the American manufacturing sector by allowing businesses to “variablize” labor costs. The solution allows businesses to scale while maintaining a lower and more constant cost structure. Through the Veryable system, businesses and workers are provided with an additional, new and unique option that satisfies their respective needs.

Learn More About Our Gamechanger

Headquarters: Grand Rapids and Detroit
Web: veryableops.com/

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