Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I I N O. X X I X D E C E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 2 2 10 M A N U FAC T U R I N G M anufacturing is not an easy industry to hire for these days, as Franklin Printing can attest. e Farmington-based commercial printing firm started as the in-house production facility for the Livermore Falls Advertiser and the Franklin Journal newspapers in the late 1960s. Today with a focus on commercial printing, the family-owned firm employs 53 people and is seek- ing to fill two jobs, including a purchasing manager position that's been open for nearly a year. "When I started in the business, we would go a long time without needing to hire someone, we had such a good base of employees," says General Manager David Nemi, who started at the com- pany 19 years ago as a marketing and sales manager. "Many of them are still here, but only in the last few years have we had to really think about the recruit- ing process more and how are we going to make it work better for us?" While online ads used to do the trick, Franklin Printing now works with an outside recruiter, Falmouth-based KMA Human Resources Consulting LLC, for advice on where and when to place ads. rough the partnership, Franklin Printing has become more conscious of offering a competitive wage and benefits, including paid time off beyond the legal requirement. Despite all those efforts, finding the right fit isn't a given. "ere's a lot of competition," Nemi says. "ere were times when we didn't react fast enough and the person accepted another job – I mean in a day or two after speaking to the recruiter, not a mat- ter of weeks." ere was also at least one new hire who didn't last more than a few hours. "We've never had anyone not show up for work on Day One," Nemi says, "but we hired someone who left after lunch and never came back." 'Bunch of baby boomers' From small businesses like Franklin Printing to larger players such as Puritan Medical Products and Bath Iron Works, Maine manufacturers are getting more strategic about recruiting and hiring as many of their older employees retire. Increasingly, many of those workers are leaving even before they reach retirement age, like the purchas- ing manager who retired unexpectedly from Franklin Printing in late 2021 and has yet to be replaced. Today's hiring headache stems largely from an aging workforce, with people in the 55-to-64 age F O C U S P H O T O / F R E D F I E L D David Nemi, general manager of Franklin Printing in Farmington, is seeking to fill two job openings at the 53-employee commercial printing firm, including a purchasing manager position that's been open for nearly a year. S O U R C E : Maine Dept. Labor, Center for Workforce Research, Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages MAINE MANUFACTURING AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES, Q2 2001–2022 WIDGETS, WORKERS WAGES & Maine manufacturers get more strategic about recruiting B y R e n e e C o r d e s $250 $0 $500 $750 $1000 $1250 2001 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 '21 2022

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