Several industry experts explored the continuing workforce crisis facing many in the manufacturing space. The challenges are particularly evident in label and package converting. During the TLMI Annual Meeting, which took place October 12-14, 2025, The Bundy Group’s Alex Chausovsky and The Workplace Advisors’ Claudia St. John both illustrated the challenges and opportunities in the years ahead.

According to Chausovsky, the United States added just 22,000 jobs per the most recent jobs report in August. Prior to April, more than 100,000 jobs had been created. In addition, the government shutdown has limited some of the reporting in this key area.

As of August, the unemployment rate stood at 4.3%. From a leadership standpoint, on average, raises will need to figure at 3-4% to keep up with the cost of living. Wages are currently growing at 3.7%.

“It’s not about how many jobs we’re adding, but do the people who want a job have a job and maintain spending,” noted Chausovsky. “You’ll need to budget with rising costs for your business in 2026.

“We’re not in an oversupply market or in an undersupply market,” added Chausovsky. “Good, experienced managers are still very difficult to find. If you’re looking to add an engineer, it’s a 1.4% unemployment rate. When looking at adding people and what to pay them, you need to look at data. You’ll need to pay your people competitive wages, because retention is very much driven by paying people a fair market wage.”

Creating Culture

Duringthe Converter Leadership Panel, Steinhauser’s Tara Halpin, Label King’s Robert Parker, and Charlie MacLean Jr. of ASL Print FX, an AWT Company detailed the benefits of company culture in retaining employees. According to Parker, Label King boasts a strong employee tenure, with only 25% of the team working at the company for less than three years. Culture has played a large role in Label King’s retention.

“I had no idea what I was getting into 23 years ago [when I started the business], and for me the biggest responsibility is coworkers families’ lives rely on our business. And I take that very seriously,” said Parker.” It’s important for people to know that you really do care about them and do whatever they need to have a good life. For me, I try to have a good work environment because I work there too. I want it to be as good an atmosphere as possible for everyone.”

For MacLean, workplace flexibility is key to retention. “We have a good mix of older veterans and new recruits, and it all comes down to communication and culture,” he noted. “We have a lot of flexibility with folks and the timeline that they have.”

Equipping the facility with the proper tools and technologies is also vital. “The succession planning and focusing on retention is key for us,” said Halpin. “We want to make sure our team members have all the tools they need. Financially we have a team in place to understand the climate. We also have partners in place to give us great advice, people that understand our industry and understand the business climate as we think about the future.

“I always want to make sure I’m doing everything in my power to provide the right environment for our team, where they’re being challenged, valued, and respected,” added Halpin. “That’s a huge responsibility, on the people side, making sure I provide them the best place that I can.”

Workplace Vibes

The Workplace Advisors’ Claudia St. John provided examples of how label leadership can provide a better business climate for team members. According to St. John, the heart of leadership is turning conflict into connection. The ability to better relate to employees can make a big difference in retention rates.

The workforce landscape has changed in the last five years, too. In 2021, 40% of people quit their jobs. Today, people aren’t leaving their jobs, noted St. John.

“This is a special opportunity because it’s a conversation that’s important to me – turning conflict into connection because I deeply believe you cannot be a leader if you don’t connect with your people,” she stated. “You can’t lead if people don’t follow. And it’s that connection that I don’t think we spend enough time thinking about.”

There is more pressure than ever to bolster the workforce, too. Deaths were projected to outpace live births in the US in 2040. According to St. John, that projection from the Congressional Budget Office has been amended to 2033. Currently, the US is losing more employees to retirement than gaining from Gen Z – as 11,200 Baby Boomers will retire each day through 2027.

St. John added that 75% of people who quit their jobs actually quit their bosses, and 51% of the workforce is actively looking for a new job. Meanwhile, US employees spend 2.1 hours per week in conflict at work. Therefore, time is frequently not spent effectively and enthusiastically.

Inc. Magazine also reports workplace conflicts cost billions in lost productivity. “The conflict is massive and it’s driven by the noise out there,” remarked St. John. “There is a lot of conflict and as a country we’ve never been more divided from one another at this time. Our relationships have been suffering. Everything in the news you choose to frequent is good vs. evil, and if you’re subjected to that you begin to think the other person you care and love for is a villain and morally corrupt. Algorithms feed us perspectives that are not true.”

Having productive conversations in the workplace will help drive retention moving forward. Active listening and employing positive non-verbal cues are important communication tools, especially in businesses with high stakes.

“Some conversations we have to have will be in conflict,” said St. John. “Critical conversations are usually part of the conflict, especially because the stakes are high. It can’t be a critical conversation if it’s not important. If we know what the outcome is going to be, it’s not as important.”