Our latest survey of college and university in-plants generated 71 responses from U.S., Canadian, and U.K. institutions. While 58% have budgets below $1 million, 15% report budgets between $5-$15 million.
The majority (66%) of higher-ed in-plant respondents have 10 or fewer employees, though nearly half (47%) still have open positions they haven’t been able to fill. To cope, they are taking a variety of actions: 59% of managers are spending more time working on the shop floor; 41% are seeing an increase in overtime work among employees; 38% are hiring student workers; and 26% are outsourcing more work. For 23%, new automated equipment is reducing the need for workers.
Despite the labor shortage, 65% are expanding the types of services they provide to bring in additional revenue. Those that insource printing from outside their school report that business is expanding. And overall, revenue is trending upward for 41%.