6 months layed off-Now What?

G

ganzman72

Member
2 years bindery,15 years on press,5 years Production Supervisor,No, dont have any college degree.
I just cant get a job,I seen an ad today for a four color operator on career builder,They want to pay 13.00$-14.00$ an hr.Those Mother**%%!!kers.That wont even cover my sons daycare cost.
I am scared to death I am going to lose my house.I have no other skills but printing.
I guess It could be worse because mom did say me and the family could move into her basement.
I am writing this to warn you all.If you got a job now,how long before your time comes?
So friends,start preparing for the future because PRINT IS DEAD!!!!
 
I sympathize with what you are going thru, I can't even fathom not getting an paycheck. It is hard enough. But print isn't dead, its just making adjustment for a crumming world we live in. I wish I had a solution for everyone, its rough out there. Hang in there and try to get the word out and you may have to get a low paying job until something comes up
 
Things are getting worse... 8 months without job.
University degree, B.S., former Field Serviceman, a lot of skills and 20+ years in Prepress.
I Try to find something in other fields like Medicine, Home appliances, etc...
My wife is in hospital for chemotherapy. All savings gone.
No luck in Canada :(
 
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ganzman72 said:
2 years bindery,15 years on press,5 years Production Supervisor,No, dont have any college degree.
I just cant get a job,I seen an ad today for a four color operator on career builder,They want to pay 13.00$-14.00$ an hr.Those Mother**%%!!kers.That wont even cover my sons daycare cost.
I am scared to death I am going to lose my house.I have no other skills but printing.
I guess It could be worse because mom did say me and the family could move into her basement.
I am writing this to warn you all.If you got a job now,how long before your time comes?
So friends,start preparing for the future because PRINT IS DEAD!!!!
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the problem is $14.00/ hr in a larger metro area sucks because of the cost of living. take that $14/hr and live in a rural area and you'll think its a little better. I make $19/hr when I get paid. I live decently in a small town.
 
thats pretty hard man... but i dont think print is dead... has been argued in other threads... i might need an assistant soon mine is runnin about 70% and sliding atm, i think they pay around $18/hr for offsiders but we are in Australia...
 
I feel the same way about printing, it is dying. The internet is having a impact on our industry (free classifieds anyone) and so is digital print, quality sucks but when everyone is trying to save a buck it starts to look great. There is a purge happening at the moment and we'll see who survives. I see the end coming. I do not think print will ever die just reduced greatly. I need to get out of print asap, but like you this is all I know and have been doing it for some time. I luckily for now have a job, just need to figure out my exit plan.

Good luck to you
 
oxburger said:
Have you tried Find Jobs. Build a Better Career. Find Your Calling. | Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com Jobs - The Largest Job Search, Employment & Careers Site or Printing Jobs at iHirePrinting or any other online job post board? Might be something there. My wife is a career coach and she'll tell you that 7 to 9 jobs out of 10 are found through people you know and networking and not through classifieds......
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But the industry IS shrinking. Anybody throwing around platitudes & blowing smoke up yer keister about this being "just a bump in the road" is delusional. Maybe the higher-ups aren't feeling it, but the ground troops are getting boned, hard. And once you've put a whole career in and then are cast aside like the guys in this thread, there's no amount of "Hey, it will get better eventually!" shine that will make it hurt any less.

Sorry to sound so disheartened & bitter, but that's what it looks like from here.
 
I got a package from Creo in 2004. Been a contractor for about 5 years now. Been laid off more times than you can count.

Still got the house though'.

You know what helps. You gotta make a spreadsheet of cash flow. Cash going in, cash going out. Cash is king. Cash, cash, cash.

Then you cut the stuff that is draining your cash. RRSPs? Drop 'em. RESP? Forget it. Donations to your church/synagogue/temple. Swallow your pride, chop it off.

Eating out? You need to lose weight anyways.

Daycare for your kids? That's a killer. Tell you what, you be the daycare. I am for my three kids this summer.

Swallow SWALLOW your pride and tell the wifey to go out and earn some coin. Let me tell you something, a woman in her 30s/40s can get a job WAY easier than a man in his 30s/40s. Guys our age are mostly seen as damaged goods.

Then, work on something in technical sales. Don't tell me you aren't good at sales. You can get good.
 
SlaveToTheMan said:
But the industry IS shrinking. Anybody throwing around platitudes & blowing smoke up yer keister about this being "just a bump in the road" is delusional. Maybe the higher-ups aren't feeling it, but the ground troops are getting boned, hard. And once you've put a whole career in and then are cast aside like the guys in this thread, there's no amount of "Hey, it will get better eventually!" shine that will make it hurt any less.

Sorry to sound so disheartened & bitter, but that's what it looks like from here.
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I don't remember "blowing smoke" and telling him "it will get better" in my post. I was merely stating that if he's going to expend energy looking, networking is a far better avenue than newspaper classifieds when looking for a job. It's tough for anyone to find a job, but it is easier when you have contacts that can tell you of openings before they're placed in papers when, by the time it's in the paper, you have potentially hundreds of people applying for the same job.
 
Really sorry to hear of your predicament. I can tell you from my own experiences hear in Pembrokeshire, Wales. that the market is beginning to pick up, so hope might be on the way.

As for print being dead, I quite understand your attitude. I do believe though that there will be a future, but a different one to that which we are used of. The industry will evolve and I hope to be hear in 10 years time.

Modern Print, Printers and Graphic Designers, Designing, Printing in Pembrokeshire, Wales
 
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Sorry Ox, I wasn't necessarily replying to your Post, was speaking in more of a general way. Sorry, I may have been a little fed up & reactionary yesterday. :eek:

I don't suppose any of us can say with certainty where this nonsense is headed, it just seems to be getting more bleak every week/month/year and I for one feel like a whipped dog.
 
I hear you. It's always good to keep an eye on other options while the economy is still all squirrely....I know I am.
 
The print business is in the crapper like every other industry.

I'm blessed with 2 jobs in prepress. 9-5 i work for a flexo shop which is busy as hell. There is 2 of us in prepress. At night I work for my old full time job at a small commercial printer-about 3-4 hours a night and saturday. It was difficult to say the least to find my day job. The reason I was looking was because the commercial printer was going down the tubes. Staff cuts, less hours, accrued vacation/holiday pay taken away and tons of other bad things going on. Again I feel blessed and lucky to have 2 jobs in this economy. The work is out there. You have to find it. I went on a bunch of interviews, was persistent in following up and got lucky.

Best of luck to the OP and the others in this thread suffering.
 
Well, add me to the pool of the laid off. I got my notice yesterday.

Our business had SIGNIFIGANTLY dropped off in the past few months and chargable time was a rare thing.I can't blame the company for it, it was strictly a money issue. They've been around for 30 years and this was the first time they've been really hurting.

I have to hit the ground running hard on Monday and hope I can find something. I'm wiling to do just about ANYTHING at this point as long as the bills are getting paid.

Maybe I should go back to school for something like nursing.... the only industry where there's a shortage of people.
 
Dannymonky said:
The print business is in the crapper like every other industry.

I'm blessed with 2 jobs in prepress. 9-5 i work for a flexo shop which is busy as hell. There is 2 of us in prepress. At night I work for my old full time job at a small commercial printer-about 3-4 hours a night and saturday. It was difficult to say the least to find my day job. The reason I was looking was because the commercial printer was going down the tubes. Staff cuts, less hours, accrued vacation/holiday pay taken away and tons of other bad things going on. Again I feel blessed and lucky to have 2 jobs in this economy. The work is out there. You have to find it. I went on a bunch of interviews, was persistent in following up and got lucky.

Best of luck to the OP and the others in this thread suffering.
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I'll be persistant. Chance are I'll be selling cars again while also looking for another prepress/printing job. I'm willing to commute a decent amount for the "right" job/pay. As frustrating as it can be, I LOVE this line of work and am saddened to see what's happening to it.

So far, I've dropped off resume to every printing company within a 30 mile radius.
 
Jecclr2003 said:
So far, I've dropped off resume to every printing company within a 30 mile radius.
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Just a thought. Since we're in full vacation season, what would happen if you offered to work for one of the printers that you would like to work for and that you feel might be in a position to hire. Maybe offer to work for 2 or so weeks - maybe to cover an employee who's going on vacation. Maybe even offer to work with no pay - as a way of expanding your experience and knowledge beyond what you achieved with your former employer. Maybe once they have you in shop you'd be in a position to demonstrate the value you could bring to their business if they were to hire you on. They would have nothing to lose and you would have everything to gain.

best, gordon p
My print blog here: Quality In Print
Current topic: Ink savings using solid screening - part 1
 
I feel your pain, man. I got laid off back in February after 15 years in the same company. I was able to live on unemployment for a few months then moved to another city (which I was planning to do before getting laid off).

I was lucky and found a company that was hiring for a job that I was very qualified for and got in at $21.50/hr. I hate the frickin' place but I have a kid in school now so I'll have to suck it up for awhile.
 
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