Manufacturing Staffing Agency
A recruiting partner built for skilled production, controls, quality, and plant leadership hiring. Real recruiter ownership, no resume catalog dumping.
Picking a manufacturing staffing agency is harder than the role itself
KORE1 is a manufacturing staffing agency that places skilled production, controls, quality, and plant leadership talent across 30+ U.S. metros, with a 92% twelve-month retention rate and a 17-day average time-to-hire.
Most agencies pitching you the same thing right now look identical on a slide. Same logos. Same nationwide map. Same promise of speed. You don’t find out who actually has a recruiter sitting in your zip code until week three of the search. By then you’ve already lost the candidate who wanted to start Monday.
Manufacturing hiring is unforgiving in a way other staffing isn’t. The work is onsite. The shift starts when it starts. A missed maintenance call costs real production. And the candidate pool is smaller and older every year. The BLS Occupational Outlook projects steady production demand through 2033, while the National Association of Manufacturers project 3.8 million open roles by 2033 with roughly 1.9 million going unfilled at current pace. Your agency choice is a labor-supply decision, not a procurement one.
KORE1 sits under our broader engineering staffing agency practice. That matters because the same recruiter who fills your maintenance tech can fill the manufacturing engineer on the next req without restarting the brief. We’ve been doing this since 2005.
Last updated: May 28, 2026
Four hiring lanes inside one manufacturing practice
Not every search needs the same recruiter. We segment our manufacturing desk into four lanes so the person sourcing for your job already knows the vocabulary, the comp range, and the failure modes.
Skilled Production & Trades
CNC machinists, welders, electromechanical techs, maintenance, press operators, mold-setters, tool & die. Direct hire, contract, and contract-to-hire.
Controls, Automation & Quality
PLC programmers (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Mitsubishi), SCADA, robotics integrators, quality engineers, CMM programmers, ISO/IATF auditors.
Manufacturing Engineering & CI
Process engineers, manufacturing engineers, Lean Six Sigma practitioners, continuous improvement leads, industrial engineers running takt and OEE work.
Plant & Operations Leadership
Production supervisors, plant managers, ops directors, EHS managers, supply chain leads. Real interview prep, not just a resume bounce.
A staffing partner that can read a tier sheet
Generic staffing firms screen on keywords. Then your shift supervisor spends an hour explaining the difference between a fanuc-trained CNC operator and someone who pressed start on a Haas in night school. We screen up front. Our manufacturing recruiters have placed at least 15 years’ worth of plant talent between them.
Before a candidate hits your inbox, we’ve checked the controls platform, the production cell type, the union vs. non-union experience, and the shift pattern. Quiet ones, too. Whether they drive 25 miles or 45. Whether they have transportation that can survive a 5 a.m. start. The boring details that decide whether week one ends in a no-show.
That’s also why we don’t drop bench resumes. Every candidate is sourced for your req specifically. If a person doesn’t fit, they don’t go on the slate. A short slate of three people who can actually start beats a stack of nine maybes.
Five steps from open req to person on the floor
-
1
Plant intake
30 minutes with the hiring manager. Tell us the controls platform, the line type, shift pattern, comp band, and the two things that will kill an offer. We take notes, you don’t fill out a portal.
-
2
Targeted sourcing
Recruiter pulls from our active pipeline and outbound list within commute distance of the facility. No nationwide spray. Most production roles are filled by people inside a 25-30 mile radius.
-
3
Pre-screen with depth
A 30-45 minute technical conversation. Real questions. Allen-Bradley vs Siemens trees. Six Sigma scenario. CMM workflow. Then drug, background, and references against the role’s specific risk profile.
-
4
Slate delivery
Three to five candidates max. Each one comes with a recruiter note explaining what they’re best at, what they’re learning, and any flag worth knowing before the manager’s interview. No spam.
-
5
Offer & first 90 days
We close the offer ourselves, including the awkward parts (counter-offers, relocation, shift differential). Then the recruiter checks in at day 14, day 45, and day 90. That cadence is how we hit 92% twelve-month retention.
Direct hire is where we live, not just an afterthought
A lot of manufacturing staffing companies are temp-first shops dressing up a direct-hire pitch. We’re the opposite. KORE1 started as a direct-hire search firm in 2005. Plant managers, ops directors, EHS leaders. We added contract and contract-to-hire later because clients asked.
What that means for you. When you need a production supervisor, you’re not getting a recruiter who’s only ever filled temp slots. You’re getting someone who’s negotiated relocations, sign-on bonuses, and counter-offers, and who knows how to read whether a candidate is actually leaving their current shop or just shopping around.
You also get an honest read on whether you should be hiring direct, contract, or contract-to-hire. Sometimes the answer isn’t the one your CFO wants. We say it anyway.
Manufacturing isn’t one industry, and your recruiter shouldn’t pretend it is
Hiring for a Class III medical device cleanroom is not the same as hiring for an aerospace machine shop. We staff across these manufacturing verticals and know what each one screens for.
Aerospace & Defense
AS9100, ITAR-cleared shops, 5-axis CNC, composites, NPI ramp. Heavy in Southern California, Wichita, Phoenix, and the Carolinas.
Medical Device
FDA cQSR, ISO 13485, cleanroom, injection molding, validation engineering, and process transfer talent. Strong in the Twin Cities, Boston, and Orange County.
Automotive & EV
Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, battery manufacturing, body-in-white, stamping, weld cell controls. Active in the Midwest belt and Texas.
Food & Beverage
SQF, HACCP, fill lines, sanitation engineering, packaging automation. We work across the Carolinas, Georgia, and the Central Valley.
Industrial & Heavy Equipment
CNC machining, fabrication, welding, hydraulics. Strong placement footprint in Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Consumer Goods & Packaging
High-speed packaging lines, blow molding, thermoforming, label and converting. We staff both line operators and equipment specialists.
Manufacturing is a skilled trades search. Light industrial is a labor pool search.
If you’re hiring forklift operators, packers, pickers, or warehouse associates, that’s our light industrial and warehouse staffing practice. Different recruiters, different sourcing channels, different pay rates, and a faster fill cadence. Manufacturing is technical work and needs a technical recruiter. We split the desks for a reason.
If you’re not sure which lane your req sits in, send it over. We’ll tell you straight in the intake call instead of routing it badly.
Common Questions
What does a manufacturing staffing agency actually do?
A manufacturing staffing agency sources, screens, and places technical production talent like machinists, controls techs, quality engineers, and plant leaders, on contract or direct hire terms. KORE1’s manufacturing recruiters specialize by lane, screen on actual platform experience (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, ISO/IATF), and own the offer close. We don’t drop bench resumes. Every candidate is sourced fresh for the specific req, vetted on commute, shift fit, and platform competency before you see the slate.
How fast can you fill a manufacturing role?
17 days is our average time-to-hire across manufacturing roles in the last 12 months. Production and trades roles often close inside 10 days when the commute radius is workable. Highly specialized roles, think senior PLC programmers on Siemens S7-1500 or NPI engineers in medical device, run 3-5 weeks. We’ll tell you in the intake call which window your search realistically sits in. No fake speed promises.
Do you staff contract, contract-to-hire, or direct hire?
All three. Direct hire is our oldest practice (since 2005) and still where most leadership and engineering placements happen. Contract is for project work, seasonal surges, and roles where you need fast coverage without committing headcount. Contract-to-hire is the middle path. We help you pick the right model in the intake call, even when the answer doesn’t match what was approved on the req.
Which industries do you cover inside manufacturing?
Aerospace and defense, medical device, automotive and EV, food and beverage, industrial and heavy equipment, and consumer goods. We have recruiters who’ve actually worked in or recruited for each one. If you’re in a niche outside that list, we’ll still take the intake call, but we’ll tell you honestly whether we’re the right desk or whether you’d be better served by a specialist firm.
How is this different from light industrial staffing?
Light industrial covers warehouse, forklift, packers, pickers, and general labor. Manufacturing covers skilled trades, controls, quality, engineering, and plant leadership. Different recruiters, different sourcing channels, different pay rates. Our light industrial and warehouse staffing practice is a separate desk inside KORE1. If you call about a forklift driver, we’ll route you there. If you call about a maintenance tech, you stay with manufacturing.
How much does a manufacturing staffing agency cost?
Direct hire is a percentage fee based on first-year base salary, scaled to role complexity. Contract is a bill-rate per hour that bundles pay, employer taxes, insurance, and recruiting overhead. Contract-to-hire combines both: hourly bill during the contract window, then a buyout or conversion at the trigger date. We quote against your specific req, not a sticker price. We’ll also tell you when an alternative model is cheaper for your situation, even if it shrinks the deal.
What if a hire doesn’t work out?
Direct hire placements carry a replacement guarantee window, typically 60-90 days depending on the role tier. If the person leaves or doesn’t work out inside the window, we replace them at no additional fee. Day 14, day 45, and day 90 check-ins from the recruiter are part of the model, not an upsell. That early-warning cadence is what gets us to 92% twelve-month retention.
Have an open req and a deadline that already passed?
Send it over. We’ll tell you in the intake call whether we can fill it in your window or whether the comp band needs to move. No pitch deck. No pretending the talent market is something it isn’t.
Start an intake call