Central PA manufacturers project 816 hires, but hiring stays hard

By Nathan Brooks

Central Pennsylvania manufacturers expect to add 816 workers over the next 12 months, according to a 2026 survey of nearly 70 regional employers.

Across the survey, 81% reported difficulty filling positions, down from 87% in 2025. HR leaders must set recruiting capacity, starting pay and hiring timelines against larger aggregate hiring targets.

What changed in the hiring outlook?

Employment optimism rose sharply. Seventy percent of manufacturers plan to increase overall employment over the next 12 months, up from 52% in 2025 and the highest share since 2021.

The 816 planned hires compare with 320 new hires forecast in the 2025 survey. Two participating companies account for 350 of the 816 positions, a concentration that limits how broadly the regional total can be read.

For employers, those plans shape recruiting demand and compensation decisions. The report also provides a regional benchmark for wage and salary positioning, with market averages, ranges and comparisons among participating manufacturers.

Why are positions still hard to fill?

Recruiting difficulty remained widespread among the nearly 70 respondents. Hourly and skilled hourly workers were the hardest jobs to recruit, with machinists, toolmakers and maintenance occupations cited most often.

Competing wage rates were the leading reason for the difficulty, cited by 59% of companies, up from 54% in 2025. Unqualified applicants ranked second at 54%, down from 70% in the prior survey.

Hiring timelines also stretched. Forty-five percent of companies reported an increase in the time between posting a position and filling it.

The figures put pay competitiveness, applicant quality and process speed into the same recruiting problem, even as the share of employers planning job growth reaches 70%. For HR teams, raising starting pay alone may not resolve longer vacancy cycles or shortages in skilled hourly roles.

Which recruiting levers gained ground?

Manufacturers most frequently reported raising wages, increasing starting wages and adopting flexible work hours. Recruiting strategies shifted more clearly during the 2026 survey.

The survey recorded a 60% increase from prior-year responses for flexible work hours. That response coincides with growing concern about competing wages, cited by 59% of participating employers.

For members, the practical adoption question is which combination of sourcing, training, advice and benefits can support larger hiring plans without losing experienced workers. The association offers:

• Discounted job-sourcing tools.
• Supervisory and leadership certificate training.
• A free HR hotline for members.
• HR consulting covering recruiting, mentoring, training, handbooks, policies and outsourced HR.
• Group medical, dental and vision insurance.
• A group 401(k) plan, which the association says can reduce management time and expenses.

What do wages, turnover and retirement risk show?

Wage growth has leveled off. Average entry-level production wages moderated after several years of significant increases following the pandemic, according to the 2026 report.

Turnover eased slightly, but the association said rates remain "roughly double pre-pandemic levels." The survey summary does not provide an exact turnover percentage, leaving the size of the retention challenge unresolved.

In the 2026 survey, more companies also reported higher numbers of employees close to or beyond retirement age. The association identifies succession planning and pipeline development as growing needs as the regional manufacturing workforce ages.

How does the survey work?

The 2026 survey ran during summer and early fall and collected responses from nearly 70 manufacturers across Central Pennsylvania. It serves as a benchmarking tool for manufacturing HR professionals and company leadership.

The association says the report allows employers to compare compensation, gauge industry averages and ranges, and determine where they stand in the regional labor market. The figures describe the participating manufacturers rather than every employer in the region.

Participating employers received the report at no cost. The association directs other readers to www.macentralpa.org for the full report, [email protected] for access questions and [email protected] for the member hotline.

What should employers watch next?

The Manufacturers’ Association of Central PA has represented hundreds of member organizations since 1906 and says its mission is to help the region's manufacturers compete globally. It describes its knowledge mission as helping companies "operate, hire, and train smarter."

The near-term test is whether 70% hiring optimism can become completed hires while employers still face 81% hiring difficulty, 59% wage competition, longer timelines, retirement pressure and turnover roughly twice pre-pandemic levels.