The manufacturing sector is facing a talent crisis that no amount of job postings will solve. Gartner predicts that by 2030, half of all enterprises will face irreversible skill shortages in critical roles — a warning that lands especially hard in advanced manufacturing and supply chain, where the silver wave of retiring skilled workers is already accelerating. Internal equity failures and uncompetitive compensation are quietly undermining hiring pipelines, putting organizations at risk of losing the talent they already have while failing to attract the specialized workers they urgently need.

How should manufacturing and supply chain leaders close critical skills gaps when the talent they need doesn't yet exist in the market? In this episode of Time to Hire, host Lamees Abourahma is joined by Jim Sheehan, Vice President at MAU Workforce Solutions, to explore skills-first hiring strategies, apprenticeship models, passive candidate engagement, and how AI-driven talent intelligence is reshaping how organizations source, assess, and retain specialized talent.

Statistic source: Gartner, "Future of Work Trends Post-COVID-19," 2021. Referenced directly in the episode transcript.

Correction: the client program Jim referenced should have a 12-month time period, not 12-weeks.

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About the Podcast

Time to Hire is produced by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), the leading authority on recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) foresight and innovation, and the trusted convener for the global RPO community. Through conversations with industry leaders, the podcast explores the trends, insights, and innovations shaping the future of talent acquisition.

Learn more about RPOA and join the community at: https://www.rpoassociation.org.

Follow the host, Lamees Abourahma, on LinkedIn.

When hiring slows but demand for specialized skills accelerates, talent leaders face a paradox. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends research, 73% of professionals are passive candidates—open to opportunity but not actively applying—reshaping how employers must engage talent. In this recalibrated market, organizations are cutting noncritical roles while aggressively investing in AI, automation, and high-impact skill sets. The result? A mismatch between available workers and enterprise-ready capabilities, especially in AI engineering, digital transformation, and healthcare capacity.

So how can talent acquisition leaders hire for emerging skills while navigating uncertainty and global restructuring? In this episode of Time to Hire, host Lamees Abourahma speaks with Fede Calvino, Co-Founder and CSO of TAM Solutions, about skills-first hiring, passive candidate engagement, Latin American talent intelligence, and how RPO providers can deliver speed, context, and risk reduction in high-stakes hiring environments.

About the Podcast

Time to Hire is produced by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), the leading authority on recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) foresight and innovation, and the trusted convener for the global RPO community. Through conversations with industry leaders, the podcast explores the trends, insights, and innovations shaping the future of talent acquisition.

Learn more about RPOA and join the community at: https://www.rpoassociation.org.

Follow the host, Lamees Abourahma, on LinkedIn.

Hiring volume may be cooling, but competition for specialized skills is intensifying. As AI adoption accelerates across industries, organizations face a widening gap between evolving role requirements and available talent. According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Report, 73% of professionals are passive candidates, making precision engagement more critical than ever (LinkedIn Talent Solutions). The strategic implication is clear: companies must rethink sourcing models, redefine job criteria around skills, and build sustainable pipelines that extend beyond traditional industry boundaries.

So how can organizations win scarce AI-adjacent and hybrid talent without overwhelming lean internal TA teams? In this episode, Lamees Abourahma speaks with Grant Jessup, Global Head of Sales and Solutions at LevelUP HCS, a Silver member of the RPOA. They explore passive talent strategy, embedded RPO models, skills-first hiring, and how flexible recruitment partnerships enable access to specialized and underrepresented talent pools in a rapidly evolving market.

Follow Grant Jessup on LinkedIn.

Follow LevelUP on LinkedIn.

About the Podcast

Time to Hire is produced by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), the leading authority on recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) foresight and innovation, and the trusted convener for the global RPO community. Through conversations with industry leaders, the podcast explores the trends, insights, and innovations shaping the future of talent acquisition.

Learn more about RPOA and join the community at: https://www.rpoassociation.org.

Follow the host, Lamees Abourahma, on LinkedIn.