With the upcoming retirement wave of Baby Boomer employees, the printing industry has as many as 5,000 jobs to fill annually, and companies are having difficulty finding qualified young people to apply. This is a big deal, and one that deserves our collective concern.
Researchers Ashley S. Walker and Patricia A. Sorce, Ph.D., recently studied the perception of 749 recent college graduates about their future careers in the printing and publishing industries and presented their results in a document published by the Printing Industry Center at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The goal of their research was to determine which factors have the strongest correlation to overall job satisfaction among RIT School of Print Media alumni who are currently employed in the graphic arts industry.
Among their findings: 1) Baccalaureate programs in printing and graphic communications are having trouble attracting applicants to their programs. A large percentage of applicants are initially interested in graphic design jobs as opposed to production, workflow or scientific jobs commonly associated with the print industry. 2) Printing and publishing employers who seek new employees for their businesses should understand the factors that contribute most to overall job satisfaction, including personal gratification felt from doing a job, the organization's goals and vision, and the opportunity to be creative.
What do you propose can be done to solve our important HR issue?