Steve Nicholls, KBDN columnist and president of the Oakland, CA-based Mueller Nicholls, concurred: “Getting your shop filled with skilled labor is like having a bill go through the Senate without any amendments – it just doesn’t happen anymore. As our high schools and colleges move away from vocational training, the only option we shop owners have is to train from within.”

Rix believes there’s another answer. “The automation of computer equipment allows you to have a smaller work force and have a production level three or four times that of your work force. It’s an investment comparable to that of your payroll, except [once it’s paid off], you don’t have to keep paying it,” he noted.

“I used to have five guys [working for me at my shop], but now that my shop is totally automated, I’m down to one guy. And I’ve taken him off my payroll and work with him through an employment agency.” This, he points out, not only saves having to pay for Workers’ Compensation and health insurance, but also eliminates the possibility of wrongful termination suits, in cases where the work dries up and a shop has to let someone go. “There’s no question about it – automation is the way of the future.”

While not every shop is jumping on the automation bandwagon, Rix believes this is partly because not all shop owners are seeing the big picture. “There’s a misconception that if you buy a large piece of equipment, you have to use it 40 hours a week [to justify the purchase]. But if it produces in two hours what used to be produced by two guys in two days, it still [may make sense] to invest in it,” Rix noted. “You don’t have to run it 40 hours to cut costs and make it pay for you.”

However, he added one caveat: “Automating your shop requires a computer literate work force, which means investing in training and living with the learning curve of getting people up to speed.” But he also believes the results can be well worth the short-term inconvenience.

Are other shops following his advice? Some certainly are. In fact, of those shops surveyed, a little more than one fifth (22%) said they have added CNC or computer-driven equipment in the past 12 months. And, another 22% said they expect to add CNC or computer-driven equipment over the course of the next year in order to speed up production processes and mitigate the need for more staff.

Others noted they were addressing the labor shortage and rising cost of health care by outsourcing more work.

A number of shops also reported investing more time and money in training, apprenticeship programs, etc., but as one put it, “there just aren’t that many applicants in my area.”

With a smaller pool of available and qualified applicants, competition for top-level talent has become fierce in many areas, and cabinet shop owners said they were increasingly being forced to offer enhanced benefits and perks to try to retain quality employees. Some now provide quarterly bonuses, while others have focused on planning more “fun events” to create a more employee-friendly workplace.

Nicholls says at his own shop, “Providing good health care coverage for our employees and their families has been one of the single best ways we have been able to retain employees.”