76% OF PRINTERS SUFFERING LABOUR WOES

Three out of every four print business in the country are currently suffering from labour shortages, according to an industry-wide survey carried out by employers’ association Print & Visual Communication Association (PVCA).

The results of the Industry Skills Report reveal that print is struggling with labour supply and skills needs across all sectors of the industry, with survey results coming from commercial print, signage, wide format, labels, packaging and distribution.

The report highlights the majority of the industry have various job vacancies open, with 76 per cent of respondents stating they have vacancies within their businesses, and of those 27 per cent have been open for eleven weeks, and 40 per cent having open vacancies for longer than 15 weeks.

The majority of those open positions, some 58 per cent, are for printing machinist and finishing roles, which require strong technical competency.

Most print businesses reported receiving between one to five applicants for advertised roles. Concerningly, the majority of respondents, in fact almost all at 94 per cent, voiced discontent with the skills and experience levels of the majority of applicants, thereby causing more delay in filling the roles.

PVCA has just had a major win for the industry with skills training, managing to get all nine print apprenticeship courses back on the Australian Apprentices Priority List (AAPL), with the results of this survey confirming it was essential for the future well-being of print.

Kellie Northwood, CEO at PVCA said, “Whilst pleased to see our apprentices returned to the AAPL, what this research has found is that our members, and broader industry, are seeing the biggest threat to their businesses being across the limited skilled labour supply.

“We need to build an attraction, retention and upskilling program for our industry to revitalise our workforce availability with priority. This is not a one-off quick fix, rather we are looking at a holistic approach from school-leavers looking for career options, to older workers looking to upskill, engagement of new employment channels, attracting women into the workforce, and working with our existing workforce on strengthening their professional growth within our industry.”

In addition to Print Finisher (which covers Guillotine Operators and Mailhouse Operators) and Printing Machinist roles (including Flexographic, Gravure, Label, Letterpress, Lithographic Reel and Sheet Fed Machinists and Printers), other occupations such as Graphic Pre-press Trades Workers, Digital Printer and Printers Assistant/Offsider are among top professions the print and paper industry is currently trying to fill.

Advertised job vacancies via online platforms such as Seek, CareerOne and LinkedIn reflect longer response times by more than four weeks, and from advertisements, the applications are minimal.

This survey result fits in with many discussions the PVCA has been having with industry stakeholders, who are advising they rely on personal networks to find candidates. Looking to the future for the industry, the majority of printers are viewing a six to 10-year range as a significant time period for their labour requirement needs. This will be a result of factors such as workforce retirements, as well as business growth and diversification goals.

This result ties in with the data the PVCA has already developed that evidences the industry has an ageing workforce, with the majority of trade and two production-related employees within the industry aged between 45 and 54 years of age.

Across the next 10 years, there will likely be a growing number of tradespersons looking to retire or shift down their careers.
Charles Watson, GM – IR, Policy & Governance at PVCA said, “The top-line findings evidence the reality that our industry has long-term career opportunities waiting for qualified applicants. We are not dissimilar to other trade-based industries who are facing similar issues and therefore, in a race for talent, we need to find our own multi-faceted industry solutions that bring better results than for other industries.

"It is critical we operate as a unified and collaborative industry that seeks to find options to overcome these labour related challenges, which will be increasing over the next decade with a keen focus on who and how we attract a wider talent pool. The PVCA is committed to assisting members in building stronger employment programs across these matters throughout the next 12 months and beyond."

The Industry Skills Survey is one of a series of surveys the PVCA has issued over the past six months calling on support from members and the broader industry 'to ensure industry metrics are rich in compelling data' to develop a new focus across the Association’s initiatives.