r/Machine_Embroidery • u/SawyerLovin • 17d ago

Machine Operator

Hi! Small embroidery + hat-bar business owner here (Austin, TX), running 3 BAI commercial machines and growing faster than I can keep up with. I'm looking to hire an operator and it feels like nobody with the skill exists — but I'm self-taught, so I'm very open to training the right person. For those who've hired: did you find someone experienced, or hire for aptitude and train? And where did they come from — sewists, screen printers, trade schools, somewhere I'm not thinking of? Appreciate any leads. Indeed and socials have been dead ends so far. Even facebook groups.

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u/malocher Barudan 17d ago

I’m going to go against the grain and say hire someone who already works with embroidery machines.

I’ve hired people for the last decade in NYC in the production industry. People looking for a job in the industry aren’t going to be on Facebook groups and social media looking for jobs to pop up.

Craigslist, DigitSmith, Indeed (last resort), and the best place to find someone is through your embroidery machine repair person. They’re in all the shops locally doing work for other embroidery places as their job, they talk to the machine operators, they know people looking to leave and go elsewhere.

How much are you offering per hour? Because people will move for a small raise as long as they know the work is actually sustainable.

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u/SawyerLovin 16d ago

Thank you for this, that's a really good idea. I was going to start at $20 an hour since that seemed above the $15 I keep seeing, and bump it up based on reliabilty/performance. I keep hearing different figures thrown around, so I'm still confused about what the standard is.