FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEMPER WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS RELEASES FOURTH QUARTER 2023 SURVEY RESULTS

February 15, 2024 – Semper Workforce Solutions has released the results from their 2023 fourth quarter survey of the printing and packaging industries.

Dave Regan, Semper International Co-Founder, and CEO shared his perspective on this quarter’s responses. “It is a mixed bag for sure. We start off this new year uncertain of how this will impact our businesses and industry in the coming months. We believe that in these uncertain times the idea of flex staffing to bring in skilled workers on demand makes a lot of sense.”

The data collected for each survey represents several industry categories: commercial printing, packaging, display and large format graphics, apparel and decorating, and others. Critical to this report is a commitment from contributors to provide steady consistent quarterly data. Semper’s objective is to provide information that is a balanced mix of geography, revenue, and company types.

Q4 2023 survey highlights include:

• We see a slowdown in sales at the end of 2023. More firms reported sales as flat or decreasing, while the expenses have increased
• As consumer confidence grows in strength, CFO sense sales will remain soft
• 44% of respondents are looking to hire while the rest are holding

DOWNLOAD THE SURVEY RESULTS HERE

Our survey results give Semper a unique glimpse into the printing and packaging markets. The Semper Team leverages this data to facilitate the exchange of information and, at times, the exchange of physical items between entities. We honor our industry community with a commitment to maintain confidentiality, thereby earning the trust and confidence of participating businesses.

For those organizations who would like to be included in our Q1 2024 survey, reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – questions will be available for data collection starting April 15^th, 2024. Other questions about staffing and hiring can also be submitted via email or on the Semper website https://semperllc.com/contact-us/.

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Survey Participation Is Encouraged. Semper will make a $5.00 contribution for each valid survey to the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF).

PGSF is a not-for-profit, private industry-directed organization that offers technical school, undergraduate, and graduate fellowship assistance to men and women interested in a career in the graphic communications field.

Help us help you plan tomorrow’s workforce!

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ABOUT SEMPER LLC

Semper was founded and is run by graphic arts and staffing professionals. Since 1994, Semper has provided staffing solutions for flexible, temporary, and permanent employment needs in print, copy, packaging, and prepress. Our efficient, reliable business model has helped transform how a wide range of print and graphics companies fill important roles or stretch production capacity.

Semper also helps clients expand into new areas and meet the demands of the digital age. As the print and graphics industry evolves and diversifies, Semper helps companies face the changes to come.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jules VanSant, Partner
Bubble & Hatch
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
503-267-1905

Wage + Benefits Reports Overview:

While there is consistency in survey participation year-over-year, it is important to note that the data subset of participating companies is not identical which affects these comparisons. Even though the companies that change are a fairly small percentage, it does play a part in the analysis.

Conclusion:

A Roadmap to Utilizing “2023 Wage + Benefits Reports” for Improved Wage Management, Recruitment and Retention:

Printing firm leaders are encouraged to dig into the reports deeper and utilize the rich content to form budgets and generate a long-term plan. Recommended first steps to bringing this data into strategic planning for 2024 starts with creating a list of every employee position in your firm, maybe on a spreadsheet. For each position, include what your firm pays for each position, including things like starting pay and top pay. If you have historical data of what pay was offered previously this is valuable to add. Next, analyze the data in these reports and identify relevant points for each position. Reflect on insights that impact each role. From this approach, you will build a foundation of knowledge comparing your firm’s compensation rates to industry averages. This is more than making a list. It’s analyzing and recording relevant material from this report.

Then, as part of a budgeting process, use the foundational knowledge built into your list to determine needed changes in both starting pay and top pay for each position. Once you have determined this for each position, systematically apply those guidelines. For instance, consider reviewing every pay rate once a year, the same month every year. Then, at the mid-point between two annual pay rate reviews, consider employees who are not paid top wages for each position. For example, you might review the overall wage picture in December and review those who are under top pay in June. Firms that apply this or a similar systematic approach experience at least two related benefits: their wage management approach has more credibility among employees, and employees question their wages less often. These benefits as well as a variety of others can make a positive impact on strategic planning and efficiency.

Complying with the New Corporate Transparency Act

Back in 2021 Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act, with the goal of enhancing transparency in corporate ownership in order to reduce money laundering, tax fraud, financing of terrorism, and other illicit financial transactions. The Act, which creates reporting requirements regarding the “beneficial owners” of many companies, went into effect on January 1, 2024. Many business owners are surprised to see how this law can impact their personal privacy.

The following provides an overview of what you need to know. For more information, including brochures, videos, a compliance guide and more, visit www.fincen.gov/boi.

Does the Corporate Transparency Act affect my company?

Under the Act, companies that are required to report beneficial ownership information to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are called “reporting companies.” Domestic reporting companies are corporations, limited liability companies and any other entities created by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or any similar office in the United States.

There are, however, exceptions, as 23 types of entities are exempt from the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements. The most relevant exception for our members is “large operating company.” Large operating companies are those that employ more than 20 full-time employees in the U.S.; have an operating presence at a physical address in the U.S.; and filed a Federal income tax or information return in the U.S. for the previous year demonstrating more than $5 million in gross receipts or sales, excluding sales from sources outside the U.S., and reported these gross receipts or sales on an applicable IRS form.

Who is a “beneficial owner” of a reporting company?

A beneficial owner is an individual who either directly or indirectly exercises substantial control over the reporting company, such as a senior officer, and/or owns or controls at least 25% of the reporting company’s ownership interests.

What information must be reported about the company?

A reporting company must report its legal name, trade names or DBAs, street address (not a P.O. box), jurisdiction of formation or registration, and Taxpayer Identification Number.

What information must be reported about the beneficial owners?

For each individual who is a beneficial owner, a reporting company will have to provide the individual’s name, date of birth and residential address, plus the identifying number and issuing state or jurisdiction from an acceptable identification document such as a passport or U.S. driver’s license and an image of this identification document.

How and when do we submit this information?

If your reporting company was created or registered prior to January 1, 2024, you have until January 1, 2025, to file your report. Companies created or registered after January 1, 2024, must file the report within 90 calendar days after receiving notice that the company’s creation or registration is effective. This will change to 30 calendar days for companies created or registered after January 1, 2025.

Beneficial ownership information must be reported electronically at www.fincen.gov/boi. There is no fee to submit this information. Note: As of this writing, the reporting function is not yet available.[LC1] 

There is no annual reporting requirement. However, updates or corrections to previously reported beneficial ownership information must be submitted within 30 days.

Who will have access to this data?

The list of entities that may be able to obtain access to this data from FinCEN includes federal, state, local and tribal officials; certain foreign officials; financial institutions in certain circumstances; and those financial institutions’ regulators.

What are the potential penalties for non-compliance?

A person who willfully violates the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements may be subject to civil penalties of up to $500 for each day that the violation continues, plus criminal penalties of up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000. Potential violations include willfully failing to file a beneficial ownership information report, willfully filing false beneficial ownership information or willfully failing to correct or update previously reported beneficial ownership information.

If you have any questions about the Corporate Transparerncy Act and if it affects you,  please contact your legal counsel.