Ask Signs of the Times

How Can I Find Qualified Employees for My Sign Company?

Industry experts share how signshops can recruit and retain young employees.

Published

4 years ago

July 20, 2021

Q: Our biggest issue now is the ability to hire younger employees and provide training for them. We are not finding personnel that have experience in the sign industry. It requires a considerable amount of training to bring them on board. What options do I have to find better-qualified personnel?

The following is our attempt to answer or advise on the question above. Your thoughts are welcome in the comments.

A: For the past year, Signs of the Times has been looking into the challenge of recruiting and retaining young employees into the sign industry. On this subject, Eric Larsen of Wagner Electric Sign Co. (Elyria, OH) has written two columns (June 2020 and August 2020), participated in a July 2020 podcast and an August 2020 webinar, and was interviewed (along with Sean Heffner of Chicago Wrap, Naperville, IL) in a March 2021 article. ISA’s Director of Workforce Development, Alison Kent, submitted an August 2020 letter to the editor, and ISA’s Sign Manufacturing Day is also further explored in the March 2021 article.

Mars Bravo: The Most Interesting Name in the Sign Industry

Mars Bravo is not the kind of name you hear very often in the sign industry — the kind of name more likely to follow, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage…!” In this episode, Eric interviews Mars to find out about her start in the sign industry and her ideas for the future, first with how she got her name.