Your company is thriving, even in the difficult economy. You have opened several new locations in order to keep your production in line with demand. The level of technical skill you require of your workers is high, as the product you manufacture is specialized. While you were in your initial growth stages it was always easy to spot and recruit the right talent. However now that you are in a state of quick growth it seems as though the once-easily spotted talent is getting harder to find.

After searching for union apprentices to no avail, and contacting skilled laborers from competing firms became harder as the workforce expanded, you were left with two choices. The first was to work directly with the technical schools and programs that teach the technical skills, or you can attempt to advertise in a newspaper for laborers in peripheral fields.

By working with the schools and programs you would be getting younger, less experienced workers – which in your field is frightening as the learning curve can be steep. However you may also be getting employees who are less expensive and who may have been learning next generation technical skills.

By advertising for employees outside of your narrow scope you will be getting laborers who are familiar and deeply experienced with the industry and some of the machinery, but who also may be more expensive and set their ways – which can cause conflict and expensive re-work.

Given the needs of your business, what would you do, and why?