At the TLMI Annual Meeting, the association discussed the latest workforce trends impacting labels and packaging. Plus, TLMI also outlined the numerous steps it has taken to promote workforce and leadership development throughout the industry.

In addition to a dedicated Workforce Committee, TLMI has established the Label Leaders of Tomorrow (LLT) to encourage the ascension to top positions throughout the industry – regardless of age.

According to Graymills’ Kristin Shields, co-chair of the Workforce Committee, TLMI received 40 applications for scholarships in 2023. The Member Employee Scholarship also saw a rise of 500% in new applicants, and all were awarded scholarships.

“We’re trying to find ways to promote new hires for your companies,” said Shields.

As part of the event, Claudia St. John of Affinity HR – which will be rebranded to The Workplace Advisors, detailed the trends impacting the workforce throughout the country. The unemployment rate is currently 3.8% and slightly rising. To note, full employment is considered 4.2%. However, many in the label manufacturing space will be facing rates around 1.8% because these companies are not laying off employees. Therefore, compensation is also on the rise.

St. John discussed several positives: many older employees facing retirement have already retired, and the rate of resignation fell to its pre-pandemic level. The workforce is seeing more stability, especially as some two million women have returned to the workforce from the pandemic. According to St. John, the participation rate for women is now at 2.8 million, which is the same level as February 2020.

However, there are still eight million jobs missing from the pandemic – due to death, retirement, long Covid, fewer immigrants, and so on. “You can feel eight million missing from the workforce, so this is still a challenge,” said St. John. “The labor participation rate is stabilizing, though. The birth rate got a bounce during Covid, but the trend is still going down from a workforce perspective.”

“Labor is going to continue to be a challenge for you going forward, so you have to be creative and you have to be strategic,” she added.

To provide a diverse range of viewpoints on the workforce challenge, TLMI held an expert panel featuring Blue Label’s Andrew Boyd, Yerecic Label’s Kristin Yerecic Scott, Trend Printing / International Label’s Stephen Fishbein, and Donna Razic.

“We’re pretty stagnant from a growth standpoint,” noted Boyd. “You’re probably not hiring right now. Overall, it’s a flat to slightly declining line for the industry. The first 90 days are critical in determining the fit. If you have engaged employees, you’re going to get referrals. Once in the front door, 90 days is really the focus.”

Even if a company has a suitable level of employment, the search should be continuous to find the next talent pool. “We’re always looking to hire because you can never have enough talent. They can help you grow and, ultimately, recruit, so we’re always looking,” said Fishbein.

Workplace atmosphere is key to all potential prospects who walk through the door, which has to be evident from the outset. “We’re clear about the position and clear about culture,” explained Yerecic Scott. “We’ve bulked up our referral strategy, because good people refer good people. Applicants want to see a career path with our company. We’ve integrated a lot of video to communicate our culture, and we have our HR team utilize that to reach out to prospects.”

According to Razic and St. John, employers should create an atmosphere in which employees want to work. For Blue Label, that has included golf and bowling teams, as well as fantasy football leagues.

“People want to work in a place where they feel comfortable, and we build a culture around people of all ages,” commented Boyd.