Going Backwards fast

M

madjock

Well-known member
I think I have a bad case of the pressman blues, and who can blame me, here is my gripe.
When I came to Canada 11 years ago I was making 36 bucks and hour, pretty good money you will agree, and somewhere near the top of the scale for a first pressman, now 11 years later I am doing the same job, albeit for a different company, and now I am down to 28 bucks an hour.
If you factor in the cost of living pay rises that most people enjoy at around 2.5% a year, I am now earning, in real terms about 40% less than I was in 2000.
I am not very competent at economics, but I sure would like to know how the price of everything, well not everything, but the basic living essentials, can go up so much, yet wages can fall so dramatically.
I am just a whiner, or are lots of other folk in the same predicament?
 
madjock said:
I think I have a bad case of the pressman blues, and who can blame me, here is my gripe.
When I came to Canada 11 years ago I was making 36 bucks and hour, pretty good money you will agree, and somewhere near the top of the scale for a first pressman, now 11 years later I am doing the same job, albeit for a different company, and now I am down to 28 bucks an hour.
If you factor in the cost of living pay rises that most people enjoy at around 2.5% a year, I am now earning, in real terms about 40% less than I was in 2000.
I am not very competent at economics, but I sure would like to know how the price of everything, well not everything, but the basic living essentials, can go up so much, yet wages can fall so dramatically.
I am just a whiner, or are lots of other folk in the same predicament?
Click to expand...

Same situation. It's printing more so than anything else. Probably the worst profession there is. I can guarantee that hookers aren't working for less than they were 20 years ago. But printing people are.
 
As an owner my income has decreased by over 30% in the last 10 years and one year took nothing out at all . .. its the state of the industry - I'm just happy we are still open and paying the bills and yes our employees have taken pay cuts also.
 
as another owner I am in the same boat, I didn't take a salary for several months from 2008 to 2009. no one got laid off and no one took a paycut. but one person did retire. no one got a raise the last 2 years either. that being said it is a general trend in a lot of industries that pay is going down. look at the auto industry new people hire on at $14/hr. on top of that the dollar has being falling in value too. not sure about the working girls. I don't think I have what it takes to be a male escort. I don't think axe body spray will help
 
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"I can guarantee that hookers aren't working for less than they were 20 years ago."

well, maybe not if you're talking about the SAME hooker 20 years later! ;)
 
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It's like that all over. 5 years ago I was making 23/hr... today it's 18/hr and I'm glad to be getting it after being on unemployment several times in the last 3 years.
 
Hookers aside, I just don't get that my pay has gone down drastically, yet almost everything I have to buy on a regular basis has gone up in price, including the work that I produce, so how does that work, can someone please explain it to me, and where will we all end up, working for nothing?
I can't help but think we are all being royally shafted here, I doubt that plumbers, electricians and other skilled tradesmen are being paid 1990 pay rates!
 
If printing is not making you a comfortable living, then the question is what are you going to do about it?

I've started taking night courses to train myself to have other skills, and network with people. So when that light at the end of the tunnel fades I can be somewhat prepared. Or find a better opportunity outside of printing before it happens.

p
 
Some is Economics but i would say more is technology. This is no longer a trade or craft. It is now just a manufacturing process. With all the tech advances the SKILL that used to be required, is not any more. I do not think this is a good thing, because without that base knowledge, employees can not troubleshoot problems either. They have become button pushers. It's a crying shame.
 
I would like to say the everything is button pushing any more. but you can still throw away a lot of money with an employee that is a complete screw up. quality people are still quality people. but we get a lot more done with the new equipment with less people.
 
I was in prepress for about 15 years. Technician, applications specialist, then project manager... then after layoff... consultant.

Three years I decided enough was enough and switched careers. I learned how to build websites and sucked up all I could glean about internet marketing: Google Adwords, email marketing, tracking sales conversions

I now have so much work on my hands, I barely have time to run down to the ATM and deposit my big hefty paycheques.

Just get the hell out of printing. It's not you. It's the industry.
 
dj said:
Just get the hell out of printing. It's not you. It's the industry.
Click to expand...

I once had a million dollars of Heavy Metal running UV coated you-name-it for every printer, broker, DTPer and ad agency within a 500 mile radius. I was a friggin rock star, self- made and self- financed. The advent of desktop inkjet and laser printers, then the likes of 4Over brought my business to it's knees and I sold my Heidelbergs and bought a KM Bizhub, several Roland wide format inkjets, laminator and downsized. Fired my two overpaid pressmen, my premodonna graphic artist and production manager and watched damn near every printer in town go under. The only ones left are one or two well funded dead printer's walking and a bunch of little owner/operators.

If you can't get out of the business and learn a new trade you might be able to diversify like I did and manage to stay in the game...
 
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its funny how the old printers with deep pockets are the last to go. the smart ones stop throwing money at a sinking ship I have seen alot of 40" shops go under. the latest is downstate illinois edward hine company. 100+ year old company. it will be a cold and snowy day in hell if i ever own a 40" press. well maybe if it was digital. I wonder where all that equipment will go.
 
not so down under

not so down under

work for yourself, employ a frugal accountant , minimise your income tax, and live in australia!
cheers
dan
 
I've probably gone a good decade backwards. But lets face it, I didn't get into printing for the money or the glory. It's about the chicks. Isn't always about the chicks?
 
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