LETTERS to the Editor

Skilled Labor Controversy

Dear Editor,

I read with great interest your two-part article by Cheryl Adams, “Skilled Labor: Help Wanted” [March] and “Cure for Workforce Woes” [April]. My interest peaked when I read that parents are part of the reason that young adults do not go into the printing industry. Boy, is that the truth.

Only the reason is that these kids have seen their parents laid off, downsized, globalized and right-sized out of the industry. So why would a young adult go into an industry that has abandoned their parents that helped build this industry? You bet, “It isn’t your daddy’s print shop any more.” Dad was let go, and the industry doesn’t want him or mom back.

The same industry that has lobbied the federal government to uphold trade agreements that send jobs to other nations wants the government to earmark money for trade schools and community colleges to train younger workers. If industry leaders are passionate about solving this issue, they should pay for it themselves. Not once in either of the stories did I read about apprenticeship programs. These old-school methods are the best way to train people. It is a winning combination for both the company and the worker. Yet the printing industry wants community colleges to teach printing.

Community colleges have also learned that their insurance premiums have gone up because it is risky to have inexperienced students learning on outdated printing equipment that’s been donated by printing companies looking for a tax break. This is not an efficient allocation of funding for schools that have shifted their priorities to high technology.

Industry leaders that are ardent about the labor shortage they created should hire back the people that they got rid of. By rehiring these workers, their children will see that there is a future in this industry and may decide to make printing their career. As a result, the industry will expand its employee base and have a more diversified worker base for decades to come.

There are thousands of workers willing to make the change to other departments of the shop. Just give them a chance.

Roy Nunn
Vancouver, WA

Dear Editor,

As a graphic design/print/prepress specialist—and my husband who is a talented former union offset pressman—looking for work: Where are these wonderful jobs for skilled labor/talent? We’ve been retraining, we’ll relocate, we’re qualified to teach and manage, and we’re working for less than the shiny salaries in this article!

Not a mention in either of these articles about reaching out to displaced talent or training/promoting those in the field.

“Pepper”
Comment posted on www.piworld.com

(Editor’s Note: PI asked members of the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation Education Summit Committee to respond to the above comment. Here are two that we received.)

Dear Editor,

It is not the printing industry that is at fault at this point [in time]. The U.S. economy is not doing well, and one would be hard-pressed to point out a growing industry. Like all economic downturns, this will reverse, and the overall trend line for skilled labor needs will come back into view.

I assure you, many companies and their employees are suffering at this time. Best guess is 2009 for any sort of measurable recovery.

Brian Regan
President
Semper International
Boston

Dear Editor,

I understand the respondent’s frustration. However. . . our industry has changed and the jobs [that “Pepper” and her husband are looking for] are no longer as meaningful or as prevalent as they were in the past.

For example, and I must be very blunt, the three areas of skill noted in the respondent’s comments are either near to impossible to break into or are just not needed as they were previously—graphic design, print/prepress specialist and union offset pressman...

So where are all of those jobs noted in your two-part article? Tim Fischer of NAPL nailed them in the article. They are: process automation; digital workflow specialists; database administrators; digital content managers; fulfillment specialists; Web programmers; IT specialists; mailing specialists; and network administrators.

Further, the “printing industry” has evolved from craft to manufacturing to service. Forget “craft.” Craft implies individualized and personal skills, often resulting in the output being inconsistent from different people doing the same job in one company. Craft has been replaced by standards and systems, so the output (productivity and quality) is consistent regardless of who is doing the task.

Manufacturing was prevalent when the industry took on assembly line procedures and processes, prior to the high level of automation that presently exists and will be increased in the future. Characterizing the “printing industry” as “manufacturing” has given way to the printing industry having become a service profession.

Enhanced automation, allowing equipment to be run with fewer people and faster, has created an over capacity. In other words, there is more capacity on equipment (particularly presses) than print jobs to fill the capacity.

When this happens, there is the need for fewer back-end people (running equipment) and more service people to “sell” and “service” the unused capacity—more sales and marketing people, more estimators, more customer service people, and so on.

So add these service areas to the technical areas previously noted and now the respondent will know where the jobs are.

Harvey Levenson, Ph.D.
Graphic Communication Dept.
Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo, CA

‘Congrats’ And All That

Dear Editor,

Congratulations on your 50th anniversary issue. Keep up the good work. Continued success to Printing Impressions.

Bob Ott
President
The Hennegan Co.
Florence, KY

Dear Editor,

Congratulations on your 50th anniversary issue of Printing Impressions.

As a former publisher of more than 100 magazine titles at ABC Publishing, I can fully appreciate how difficult it is to maintain any title for 50 years. I would always tell our publishers at ABC that management makes the difference, along with editors who have a passion for the industry, to have a successful magazine over many years.

The Borowsky family has done an outstanding job with their company [North American Publishing Co.] and Printing Impressions. Keep up the good work.

Robert G. Burton
Chairman and CEO
Cenveo
Stamford, CT

We encourage reader feedback. Write to Mark Michelson, editor-in-chief, Printing Impressions, 1500 Spring Garden St., 12th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19130; e-mail mmichelson@napco.com. Some letters are shortened/edited due to length.