The Scale of the Problem
Across the United States, packaging companies are finding it increasingly difficult to hire experienced sales professionals. Whether you manufacture flexible packaging, rigid plastics, corrugated, labels, glass, metal, or caps and closures, the challenge is the same: there are fewer qualified candidates available than there are roles to fill.
This is not a temporary blip. The packaging sales talent shortage has been building for years, driven by structural changes in the industry and the broader workforce.
What's Driving the Shortage
An aging workforce. Many of the most experienced packaging sales professionals are approaching retirement. The generation that built their careers in packaging during the 1990s and 2000s is leaving the industry, taking decades of relationships and technical knowledge with them.
Limited pipeline of new talent. Unlike technology or finance, the packaging industry does not have a strong pipeline of graduates actively seeking sales careers. Most packaging sales professionals enter the industry by accident rather than design, which limits the supply of new talent.
Increased demand for specialists. As packaging becomes more complex — driven by sustainability requirements, lightweighting, barrier technologies, and digital printing — companies need salespeople who understand these technical developments. The pool of candidates with both sales ability and technical packaging knowledge is shrinking relative to demand.
Competition from adjacent industries. Experienced packaging sales professionals are increasingly being recruited by companies in adjacent sectors: food and beverage, consumer goods, and industrial manufacturing. These industries offer competitive compensation and can leverage the relationship skills that packaging salespeople develop.
Retention challenges. When talent is scarce, competitors become more aggressive in their recruitment efforts. Packaging companies that do not actively invest in retention — through compensation, career development, and culture — risk losing their best people to rivals.
How Packaging Companies Should Respond
Invest in retention before recruitment. It is always more cost-effective to retain a high-performing salesperson than to replace them. Review your compensation structures, career development pathways, and company culture. Are your best people at risk of being approached by competitors?
Build relationships with passive candidates. The strongest packaging sales professionals are not actively looking for jobs. Building relationships with potential future hires — through industry events, LinkedIn engagement, and specialist recruiters — ensures you have access to talent when you need it.
Consider internal development. Can you develop sales talent from within? Technical staff who understand your products and manufacturing processes may have the foundation to become effective salespeople with the right training and mentoring.
Work with specialist recruiters. A generalist recruitment firm will struggle to identify and engage the passive candidates who represent the strongest talent in packaging sales. A specialist packaging recruiter has established networks across every major segment and can reach candidates that generalist firms cannot.
Act quickly when you find the right person. In a talent-short market, the best candidates receive multiple offers. Streamline your interview process, make decisions quickly, and present compelling offers that reflect the candidate's market value.
The Long-Term Outlook
The packaging sales talent shortage is unlikely to resolve itself in the near term. Companies that take a proactive approach — investing in retention, building talent pipelines, and working with specialist recruiters — will have a significant competitive advantage over those that rely on reactive, job-board-based hiring.
The packaging industry is growing, driven by e-commerce, sustainability innovation, and increasing demand for packaged goods. The companies that win in this environment will be those that can attract and retain the commercial talent to drive that growth.