While the labor shortage has plagued our industry for years, a comparison of LMT’s 2022 and 2024 Wage Surveys shows an encouraging shift in lab owners’ satisfaction with their current staffing levels. Specifically, two years ago, only 54% of respondents said they were adequately staffed; today, that percentage has increased to 71%. This is especially positive news since the pandemic had such a severe impact on staffing issues.
Some respondents attribute their satisfaction to improved efficiencies such as implementing Lean Manufacturing principles and the use of lab management software and AI design services. Another huge factor: the use of digital technology.
“We’re putting out more work faster than we ever did before. It helps that about 60% of our work is now from IO scans and we’re not pouring so many time-consuming models. We’re also more profitable than when we were making restorations by hand,” says Lee Scullin, who employs five people at Scullin Dental Laboratory in Westlake, OH.
