The Print Industry is Struggling to Recruit

Finding skilled production and sales employees is an ongoing struggle for many print houses and agencies, according to a new survey.

The survey, carried out by NAPCO Research and published in industry magazine Printing Impressions, found that finding skilled production workers is a challenge for print providers in 2019. Almost 60% of survey respondents said they had trouble finding qualified, skilled production employees to fill vacancies – and expected 21% of their current skilled workforce to retire in the next five to 10 years, exacerbating the issue.

The most significant obstacles in recruitment were a limited applicant pool, perceived lack of interest in the industry among potential employees and access to workforce talent.

Many of the print providers surveyed had taken matters into their own hands, offering in-house training (38%) or cross-training programs (53%).

Meanwhile, the most popular methods of recruitment cited were referrals by current employees, online job boards and personal networking.

The full report can be read here.