Looking for Good Technical Talent? So Is Everyone Else

Published: December 01, 2000, By Richard M. Podhajny, Ph.D., Contributing Editor

It's an old cliche that "good help is hard to find," but certainly it is applicable to the current technical job market.

Extremely low unemployment rates, along with a lack of skilled workers educated in printing or ink technology, are making life difficult for many ink manufacturers and printers. A recent advertisement for an ink development chemist offers "salary in the 70s plus a bonus plus a car." Perks that were traditionally limited to sales and upper management are being offered to lab personnel.

Is the situation temporary or permanent? It's hard to say, but recent graduates are being offered significant signing bonuses, and there is fierce competition for qualified individuals.

Most of the technologists in printing and printing inks obtained their specialization through experience. However, there is another common thread here: Most of these technologists also received a sound fundamental education in chemistry, engineering, or other scientific discipline and picked up their experience on the job.

Whereas engineers tend to settle in printing or converting plant environments, many chemists are found in ink and coating laboratories.

Does it matter which you hire? Yes and No. Highly driven people will succeed in either environment, but there are differences. Engineers, usually chemical engineers, tend to be more practical and usually are hired upon college graduation. On the other hand, chemists tend to be somewhat more theoretical and often obtain an M.S. or Ph.D. to gain further specialization.

Although these differences are small, often they can influence the type of projects assigned. For example, an engineer working on pigment dispersion will tend to focus on the measurable parameters and try to optimize the results from a process perspective.

The chemist likewise will measure parameters, but his or her perspective may focus on the relationship of the results with the chemical structure of the dispersant and the pigment.

Both approaches will lead to successful solutions, so the difference is rooted in the style of the technologist etched through education and experience.

Looking for experienced and technically competent staff can be a difficult exercise. Recent expansion in our economy has absorbed much of the talent that was available. If you plan to fill a key technical position in your laboratory, you'll need to work harder.

The problem we are facing currently is not that there aren't people looking for jobs—it's that the ones looking are less qualified, qualified candidates are few, and their salaries are high.

Currently we are caught in the recycling of workers as they move from one company to another for better pay and benefits. This can disrupt the stability in your own laboratory. Hiring experienced people usually means paying higher salaries, and this has to be rationalized with pay scales of your current staff. In other words, to get that right person for your laboratory may mean a salary boost to others among your staff.

What to do? When I came into this industry, we had something called internal training of new hires. That is, you were hired because of your academic excellence and potential, but you received training for several years in different areas of the company's business. During this period, you were evaluated as to the best fit and eventually assigned to a specific area in which to work. Although this work assignment was the beginning of your career, it was understood that you would be transferred to another part of the company business to broaden your experience and develop necessary skills for future positions.

As a result of such programs, there were many talented people that had the right background and had broad enough training to advance to management positions.

Today, our businesses are very specialized, and the demand for technical people has never been higher. In the midst of our electronic revolution, technologists that understand press performance, ink rheology, etc., are indispensable. And they are hard to find.

Dr. Richard M. Podhajny has been in the packaging and printing industry for more than 30 years. Contact him at 215/616-6314; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..