Millennial Flexographer Demographics
Nearly all Millennial respondents—95 percent—are currently employed, with 60 percent working full-time and 35 percent working part-time. Two-thirds of those employed Millennials have been in the package printing industry for less than a decade. They primarily work at distributors (43 percent) or manufacturers (38 percent); 8 percent work at a printer, 5 percent at a prepress provider and 3 percent at a designer or brand management company. Workers over the age of 35 are not quite as concentrated: 29 percent work at manufacturers, 27 percent at printers and 21 percent at educational institutions, while only 9 percent work at distributors.
How Would You Describe Package Printing?
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There’s a similar story among work duties for both groups: The main roles of Millennials are in customer service (80 percent), graphic/package design (48 percent), estimating/production planning/scheduling (33 percent) and prepress operation (14 percent); no other response was selected by at least 10 percent of respondents. The work duties of individuals who are 35 years or older are, again, more diverse: Nearly a quarter—24 percent—selected “other,” filling in responses like owner, management and administration. Twenty-four percent also selected educator, while there were double-digit response rates for customer service, estimating/production planning/scheduling, marketing, sales, technical support, quality/process control, research and development, and plant supervisor/manager. The work duties of these older industry members are also, unsurprisingly, more senior than the roles filled by Millennials.
Of that 95 percent of Millennials who are employed, three-quarters feel somewhat or completely unprepared for their current work situation. Some unprepared employees say they need additional training and education to be better equipped to do their jobs. In contrast, three-quarters of industry members who are 35 years or older believe they are prepared for their current work situation.
While Millennials may feel unprepared, they self-identify as being in “learning mode”—85 percent say they are still students, seeking to achieve a higher degree; that compares to 6 percent of the 35 and older group. But in the present, they have less schooling than industry members who are 35 years or older. While most (59 percent) of those who are older than 35 have a bachelor’s or graduate degree, just 15 percent of Millennials have the equivalent level of schooling. Three-quarters of Millennials have an associate (44 percent) or trade school degree (30 percent); compared to two-in-five 35-and-over workers.
Among Millennials with degrees, three major areas of study stand out: Graphic arts and imaging technology (45 percent), graphic communications (42 percent), and paper and imaging science (31 percent). In contrast, those who are 35 years or older have studied in a wider variety of areas (56 percent mention “other,” filling in concentrations that include business, engineering, marketing, communications and accounting). The next most-popular response, graphic communications, was chosen by 22 percent.
The large majority of students who contributed to the Generational Study say they are focusing on graphic communications (79 percent), with 13 percent focusing on packaging science. But when asked about their career plans post-graduation, a majority of students—71 percent—showed interest in forgoing entering the job market and instead enrolling in graduate school. The top three career-related choices were in graphic arts (56 percent), packaging design (54 percent) and marketing (42 percent).
The large number of students looking to graduate school may be explained by one of the Generational Study’s most eye-opening findings: Eighty-three percent—five in six students—feel completely unprepared for a career in the package printing industry, versus just 11 percent who feel somewhat or completely prepared.
Said another way, without statistics: Although many students are interested in pursuing a career in the industry, few feel they are ready for one.