Managing print shop turnover is a part of running any size business, but how you handle that it can significantly affect your long-term success.
As the labor market continues to become more competitive, there’s undoubtedly a need to get more creative about handling turnover and find ways to make your business a place where your team wants to grow and succeed alongside you. The print industry is such a niche market that it takes a little more effort and imagination than other sectors of the workforce.
Here’s how you can retain your shop’s team and navigate turnover without disrupting your day-to-day operations.
Managing Print Shop Turnover: By the Numbers
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the printing industry experienced a 5.7% turnover rate in 2023, which increased to 6.3% in 2024.
That turnover also doesn’t stop at employees leaving because they found opportunities or are not a good fit for their role. Consider this: a 2021 report by Printing Impressions found that 36% of the printing industry workforce was approximately 56-65 years old.
While not everyone will head straight into retirement, these numbers suggest that shop owners need to start thinking about how they’ll backfill for these skilled roles as some employees age out or retire.
For your turnover approach to be successful, you’ll need components like comprehensive cross-training, ways to gather staff feedback and competitive compensation.
1. Refine Your Standard Operating Procedures
Your strategy should include detailed documentation on how you perform essential duties at your shop. This could consist of press setup and maintenance guides, process manuals for different printing techniques, or more detailed troubleshooting guides. You’ll also want to establish broader documentation like how you handle customer service and shipping/receiving. All of this documentation ensures everyone follows the same SOP and reduces confusion, whether it’s a new employee or a seasoned employee.
2. Establish Cross Training
Anyone who already cross-trains their team knows it builds a more resilient workforce, where knowledge gaps can be quickly filled during turnover or even less disruptive times, like when an employee is out sick or on vacation.
If it’s a more refined skill like screen printing or embroidery, that cross-training may take some time, so the sooner you determine your best team members for those roles, the better.
The process usually has a shorter timeline for other cross-training opportunities, like getting your team trained on shop management software.
It’s also a good idea to keep a clear record of who’s trained in which roles at your shop so that in the event of churn or shortage, you’re ready to slide someone else into that role, be it temporarily or for the longer term.
For shop software, you’ll want to use programs that offer flexibility and scale with your growth with options like multiple login credentials and access from several devices. Programs like Printavo allow multiple logins, which allows you to assign multiple roles and help employees get comfortable with the platform. Multiple logins also make it easier to shift the workload if someone is no longer working at your company or out of the office for an extended period.
3. Offer Competitive Compensation
Compensation may be one of the most challenging areas to approach since every state has differing regulations, laws, and living costs. Plus, a shop owner is constantly calculating the formula of turning a profit on printed merch while also paying their employees fairly.
You can consider performance-based bonuses for quality work and efficiency improvements. For your sales team, that may be easier to quantify but for your production and pre-press staff, you may need to do a little number-crunching so you can tie volume and order growth back to the rest of the team.
Outside of sales and growth metrics, one upside of the printing industry is its uniqueness compared to other manufacturing and production jobs. That itself, can be a perk.
“We’re facing significant competition from large employers like Amazon offering $18-19 per hour, but it’s important to differentiate your opportunity,” says Matt Marcotte, owner of Sound and Fury. “While there’s nothing wrong with warehouse work, we offer something different: a creative environment where people can listen to music, create art on T-shirts, experience positive culture, and learn a craft.”
Christine Geronimo, owner of Midnight Supply Company, also adds that because print shop schedules are relatively rigid, offering flexible schedules isn’t really an option. But accrued PTO for full-time employees is a great way to incentivize performance and, where possible, benefits packages as well.
4. Create Continued Education Opportunities
Keeping your team engaged and excited to work with you requires creative thinking and offering them more than just learning experiences inside the shop. Christine highlights the importance of continued education opportunities.
“Education and community are so important, like bringing staff to industry tradeshows, printing camps, etc., so they can gain perspective and new skills,” she notes. She adds that connecting your team with employees at other print shops helps foster community.
To develop new talent, you can connect with local technical schools or even establish in-house apprenticeships. This approach is beneficial because it gives students vocational training, and helps build a pipeline of local, skilled workers for your shop.
Several equipment manufacturers in the screen printing and signage industry offer certification courses on everything from printing techniques to equipment maintenance, and the more your team is educated on these matters, the better. There are several options for education in this category, including offsite workshops from manufacturers, and onsite training from a manufacturer’s rep. Some manufacturers now offer online classes as well.
5. Gather and Act on Feedback
Getting feedback from your team can be awkward since people don’t always want to share their thoughts in front of a group. If necessary, you can take a more anonymous approach to keeping that door of communication.
Several apps, like BambooHR and Nectar, allow employers to create anonymous surveys for employees to fill out. If you’re interested in a more budget-friendly option, you can use Google Forms to create anonymous surveys.
The key to building surveys for a print shop is to ask questions specific to your industry and focus.
Anyone can build a survey that asks generic questions about employee satisfaction, but to get better results, make sure you include questions about your shop’s production process, customer focus, and goals.
Consider questions like:
1. Do you think the production team needs a second shift to improve output?
A. Yes
B. No
2. Which service do you think we exceed at?
A. Screen printing
B. Embroidery
C. DTF
D. Design
3. Which service do you think we need to improve?
A. Screen printing
B. Embroidery
C. DTF
D. Design
Gathering that input from existing employees gets you more honest feedback that you can use to improve operations and culture.
“We have quarterly one-on-ones, but my staff knows that the door is always open if they need to talk about something,” says Christine. “We all need to be able to trust one another. I understand that it’s a job, but I also try to make it a fun and positive environment that they look forward to, not dread coming in every day.”
Exit interviews can also be a constructive way to determine where your business needs improvement and where it’s succeeding with employee satisfaction.
While you won’t always be able to change the ‘why’ of a person leaving your shop, there might be notes you can apply to improve existing conditions for your other employees. Similarly, make sure you’re asking specific questions to working in a print shop alongside the standard interview questions.
For example, you can include short-answer questions like these:
1. What was your favorite and least favorite part of working in the screen room?
2. How do you think we could have increased our output with the DTF side of our business?
6. Invest in the Right Technology
Having the right tools and a physically comfortable workspace can make all the difference in managing print shop turnover.
You can improve this area with better software tools, as well as better equipment strategies. If your team has the resources for production management, workflow automations, and customer order details all in one centralized platform, they’ll be able to communicate better across departments, and those frustrating moments of slowdowns or misprints will be reduced.
Platforms like Printavo and InkSoft give you the tools to set up customer orders and track them from the early quoting phase through the finished printed product so everyone on your team knows the status of an order and your customers. That sort of efficient workflow trickles back down into a smooth production process which keeps your team and your customers happy.
Screen printing and packing orders can be physically demanding, so investing in ergonomic improvements can also make a world of difference. Minor improvements like anti-fatigue mats, adjustable work desks, improved ventilation, and extra fans for climate control can make the day more pleasant.
7. Create a Positive Work Environment
As simplistic as it sounds, maintaining a positive work environment simplifies managing print shop turnover. It’s easy to get bogged down in the stress of day-to-day tasks like keeping up with orders, maintaining equipment, and balancing the books, but finding ways to recognize the team each week can help support the morale that everyone’s there to help print and pack high-quality merchandise and put your shop on the map.
“Candor and open communication are fundamental,” says Matt. “It’s crucial to establish clear company values – what we call pillars – and consistently demonstrate them in the workplace daily.”
Matt says his pillars include:
- Maintaining an optimistic attitude
- Treating everyone with kindness
- Creating a fun environment
“Simple gestures like team lunches, providing snacks, or bringing in coffee and donuts can help,” Matt adds. - Recognizing employees as individuals and treating them accordingly
8. Tap into Temporary and Industry Help
Some shops hire temporary employees to deal with seasonal spikes in order volume, and the same strategy can be applied to dealing with turnover. Temporary help can give shop owners extra time to figure out what they need to fill the gaps after an employee leaves without feeling rushed to hire a new person right away.
In some cases, that temporary employee may end up being the perfect replacement for the role they’re filling.
Partnering with other local businesses can also help fill gaps, especially if you’re reassessing your hiring strategy.
“We have other local shops that have helped us out tremendously, whether that’s taking on prints for us or even just lending us puff ink or adhesive spray that’s out of stock from our suppliers,” says Christine, adding that she’s also hired seasonal workers to help get through more significant projects.
Matt also points out that referrals are a great way to transition to a new employee.
“Family referrals can be particularly effective because there’s often a built-in accountability factor,” he adds. “The referred worker is typically more motivated to perform well to avoid making their referring family member look bad.”
Hiring family referrals also simplifies scaling since you can bring people back as needed.
Managing print shop turnover isn’t just about filling gaps when someone leaves, it’s about building a workplace where people want to learn and grow. Through cross-training, competitive compensation, and standardizing processes, you’ll build a team that’s invested in your success.
Resources for Managing Print Shop Turnover
If you need some extra tools to help you manage your shop and your team, give these resources a try:
Job Rate Calculator: Built by SignTracker co-founder Joe Arenella, this calculator helps you dial in rates that help you stay competitive with your customers, and pay your employees relative to your costs.
DTF Pricing Matrix: If you and your team frequently print direct-to-film jobs, use this tool to ensure you’re pricing for profitability.
Profit in the Printing Industry: Watch this recorded webinar to learn about strategies for boosting profitability and lowering operating costs.
5-Step Business Planning Guide: A business plan is a major cornerstone of long-term print shop success. If you haven’t already built one, try this free guide.
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