This month, I interviewed Marie Eveline, executive director of the Canadian Printing Industry Sector Council (CPISC), to learn about how the skills required of the industry’s workforce are changing and adapting to new technologies.

K: We’ve just wrapped up the first decade of the 2000s; how do you think the industry has changed in the last 10 years?

It has changed quite dramatically. One of the biggest changes is the impact of technology, which has affected the nature of the industry in terms of the type of skills people need and the types of services that the industry provides. There is also a range of smaller companies that can now get involved that couldn’t in the past.

K: As the industry changes, the skills required of the print workforce are also changing. How has the CPISC adapted to this?

Today, we need people with diverse skills, people who can multi-task and people who can see the printing process from the beginning to end. The process is integrated now, which has resulted in a need for re-training and recruiting different types of people to the industry. Training programs and schools have to change their programs to ensure we have skilled workers.

Over 80 per cent of companies have fewer than 10 employees and, as a result, most training takes place on the shop floor but most of this training is ad hoc in nature. Large companies with HR departments can create training programs, but smaller companies can’t. They currently rely a lot on suppliers for training.

Another huge issue is demographics. Although in the current economic climate, we’re looking at shortages, layoffs and restructuring, in the long-term the demographics are against us; we are looking at an aging workforce in which more than half of our workforce will reach the age of early retirement within the next 10 years. We must look at a variety of strategies now for how to work through this.

K: How do you see the labour force changing in the future with the growing trend of automation?

Automation does mean that fewer employees are needed. But, we still need to have employees who are highly-skilled and able to undertake a variety of tasks. It is critical now to look at strategies to recruit a diversity of employees and also look at how we train existing employees.

We encourage people in the industry to try new opportunities, and we are working to ensure there are programs in place to address both newcomers as well as those currently working in the industry. Given the nature of the industry, we’re going to have to be inventive in how we provide training courses. We’re looking at shop floor training as well as methods through CDs and online programs. It means not just assisting companies with dollars, but with actual tools and resources they can use.

What I’ve seen is a lack of recognition of how technologically-advanced the printing industry is. We have to ensure that when the crunch comes, we have the right people we need to keep the industry competitive, and that means hiring a diverse, broad-based and comprehensive group of people including immigrants, aboriginal people and women.

K: The CPISC recently released new skill standards for output and colour specialists. How have these been received and what’s next for the council?

The new standards have been really well received. We could see that this group needed its own specific standards, and now we have them for the three major areas of prepress, press and finishing/bindery.

The CPISC has a lot of things in the works for the future. We’re working on new standards in the areas of production support and management. Also coming up is an implementation guide to show how these standards can be used in the workplace and an HR toolkit to help employers develop job descriptions, recruitment strategies and measure job performance.

We are in our fourth year of operation now and, at the beginning, what we really tried to do was build a solid foundation looking at industry trends and develop national skills standards defining what an employee needs to know and be able to do; we also explored existing training options and identified gaps.

The end goal of all these skill standards is certification and recognition. I would like to see a national certification program so that employers know exactly what skills job applicants have. This type of program takes a lot of work, and we’re hoping to see results in the next year or two. What we want is for employers and employees to be able to go to our website, assess what they need, see what training is available and be recognized for the skills they have acquired.

Turning to the educational side of things, we have formed a National Education Advisory Committee to assist colleges in adapting their curricula based on our skill standards. We have found a lot of support and interest in this area, and it’s great to see willingness from [the] industry to be part of working and focus groups and donating their time and employees to be involved in this. It shows a huge level of commitment and that there is still a passion for this industry.

K: What is your advice for someone looking to be employed in the print industry, but having a tough time right now due to the recent recession? What are employers looking for right now when they hire?

There is no question that there are going to be opportunities out there. People need to take a good look at their skills set and how they measure up to the standards that have been developed. They need to look at areas to improve.

What we find with employers is that they are looking for people with a wide range of skills, especially in small companies. They want people who are adaptable, comfortable with IT and are able to work on different pieces of equipment. My advice to those looking for a job is to see how you can provide value to employers and look at your own professional development. Chances are going to come; don’t give up. This is a very challenging, but very rewarding industry.

K: On a more personal note, what’s your favourite part of your job?

My favourite part is meeting people. People have a lot of passion for this industry and you can see it. I love this industry and I love my job! I get to go across the country to different shops and see not only the trends, but also the challenges and unique issues people have. It is interesting to see the big picture and to see how these trends affect an individual company or worker and try to find ways to help them by providing tools and resources to create action and change. It is a great sense of satisfaction to be able to get involved this way.

One of the greatest things is to see the enthusiasm of young people in the industry as well. This year, we went to the World Skills competition and it was wonderful to see not only the passion, but the incredible skills that these youth have, competing at an international level. It reaffirmed that there are so many opportunities for young people that many don’t even know about.

Speaking of opportunities for youth, a lot of people don’t grow up knowing they want to be in the print industry; usually they just fall into it. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a teacher. I never did do that, but I have worked in education. It has always interested me how people learn things. Learning shouldn’t be reduced to a classroom, but should be something that happens all the time. My job has enabled me to bring my passion for learning and teaching as a broad perspective into an opportunity to help companies, employers and employees learn.

Your career is very important in your life – it defines a lot of people. Seeing people who love what they do is great, and I see a lot of that in this industry. There are lots of challenges, but there are so many committed people who want to give their time freely to see how print can remain an extremely competitive industry.