If someone can earn more putting cheese on a sandwich at Subway, why would they work for you?
That’s the question I put on the table when Nicole Rollender interviewed me for Apparelist’s Big Picture feature on when to hire and fire staff. The article also brings in Adriane Harrison, former VP of human relations consulting at PRINTING United Alliance, and a panel of 7 employment attorneys. They answer the termination questions shop owners usually ask too late.
It’s worth your time. Here’s why.
Who Is Your Shop Actually Competing With for Workers?
You’re not just competing with the other shops in town. You’re competing with every employer hiring entry-level people: fast food, big-box retail, Amazon warehouses, and rideshare apps. The article cites June 2026 Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing manufacturing averaging $36.74 an hour, retail at $26.29, and food service at $21.99.
When you print a shirt, embroider a polo, or press a DTF transfer, you are a manufacturer. Pay like one.
My rule of thumb is to aim for 10% to 15% above the jobs you’re competing against. If they pay $20 an hour, offer $23. If your margins can’t support that, look at your customer mix before you blame the labor market. Better employees take better customers.
How Much of Your Hiring Is Just Replacing People?
A lot of it. Plan on losing 10% to 20% of your staff every year to attrition. In a 20-person shop, that means replacing 2 to 4 people annually.
Before you post the job again, figure out why the last person left. Then ask the harder question: why do your good people stay? If the job is frustrating, you’ll keep refilling the same seat.
Should You Hire, or Fix the Workflow First?
Sometimes the answer isn’t another person. Look at scheduling, training, equipment, and workflow before adding headcount. Use your sales history to separate seasonal spikes from real growth.
At both large plants I ran, we kept a core crew on steady hours and brought in temps for the busy stretches. Virtual assistants and AI can also take on repetitive work like order entry and data entry. That frees your people for decisions and customer relationships, and lowering the cost of repetitive work gives you more room to pay your core team better.
How Do You Hire for Potential Instead of Experience?
Stop waiting for the perfect industry veteran to walk in. Harrison makes a great case for turning the interview into a conversation. Ask a grocery clerk how they organize their day, then dig into the answers. Hobbies can reveal skills too.
I watch for the basics. Did they show up on time? Did they bring a resume? On the shop tour, are they curious and asking questions, or just standing there? One shop owner I know hands candidates a small LEGO kit to see if they can follow directions. Everything we do is process-driven, so that test makes sense.
The article also features Spectrum Designs, a custom apparel nonprofit where roughly 72% of nearly 100 employees are on the autism spectrum. If you want to widen your candidate pool, that’s a model worth studying. It’s also why I co-authored INKclusivity.
How Do You Keep the People You Hire?
Retention starts on day one. Up to 20% of turnover happens in the first 45 days, so onboarding matters more than you might think.
After that, show people a future. Catching shirts at the end of a dryer for 10 years isn’t one. What if you cross-trained them so that by year 2 or 3 they’re running a press and earning almost twice as much? What if they could see a path to management?
When Is It Time to Let Someone Go?
When someone’s struggling, sit down with them, name the problem, and spell out what you expect. Give them a set window, maybe 30 to 90 days, and meet every week to check progress. Make sure they understand that if nothing changes, you’ll make a decision they won’t like.
Some behavior can’t wait that long. A technically skilled employee who treats people badly can drive good employees out the door. The attorney Q&A in the article covers how to document, why rules vary by state, what “at-will” doesn’t protect you from, and how to run a termination meeting that protects the employee’s dignity and your business. Read that section before you need it.
What Kind of Team Are You Building?
Think about a sports team. The difference between a losing season and a championship is the people and the chemistry between them.
So are you hiring someone who makes your shop better, or just whoever can show up by Friday?
Read the full article in Apparelist → Click Here
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