Over 50 unemployed Prepress Tech, should I call it quits for printing?

[Magnus59]

Have you ever given a thought how that contributes to the "number of young people" who have no ambition?

I don't see how basic workplace rights and ambition are connected. From what I've seen of USA young people are exploited far too much.

 

[photoshopdude]

I'm 26 and definitely better than all of you. Stop resisting, just accept my superior age.

You’re not better your just naive. Your time will come. I hope for your sake your not thinking about a career in prepress cause it won’t last long

 

[esipe]

Anyone out there still looking for a position and are near the Dayton, OH area??? Contact me offline. Send your info to: [email protected]

 

[Slammer]

You’re not better your just naive. Your time will come. I hope for your sake your not thinking about a career in prepress cause it won’t last long

Methinks that was not intended to be understood like that as I detect some industrial strength cynicism. But perhaps I am wrong.

 

[PDL]

Photoshopdude - Have you considered talking to some of the vendors you have met over the years? They are constantly looking for people with industry experience for technical sales support, training, product support, etc.. These days many of those jobs can be done remotely from your home office or with some travel hence not demanding relocation. http://jobs.esko.com

 

[Danny Whitehead]

I don't see how basic workplace rights and ambition are connected. From what I've seen of USA young people are exploited far too much.

I do, and I expect the correlation is the exact opposite of the one DYP insinuated. But maybe he has more direct experience than I have of how making the Australian workplace a more advantageous place to be has shattered young people's desire to enter it.

 

[DYP]

I was thinking more about the "other entitlements". When the cost of working (taxes and how those entitlements are paid for) is more than the benefits of working, and one can somehow live without working what do you expect. The only place I know where rewards and success come before work is in the dictionary. But what do I know? I am an old-timer who has worked my azz off my whole life.

 

[Danny Whitehead]

I was thinking more about the "other entitlements". When the cost of working (taxes and how those entitlements are paid for) is more than the benefits of working, and one can somehow live without working what do you expect. The only place I know where rewards and success come before work is in the dictionary. But what do I know? I am an old-timer who has worked my azz off my whole life.

I think Magnus was talking about 'other entitlements' for workers, not the unemployed.

 

[RickS]

I have the opposite problem hiring. I wouldn't mind hiring a young person with ambition to train into a prepress operator. Can't find them, and end up hiring an older person. I have noticed the last few people hired in any department, have all been gray haired, because they are the best candidates.

 

[keith1]

Consider hanging out your own shingle. By now you must understand printing and obviously know what it takes to get a print job to press without it being screwed up. If there's trade shops in your area (100 or so miles is your area) team with them. Most customers need help. They are not experts when it comes to printing, nor should they be. Offer a service, That's what printing is - a service. Troubleshoot their files, fix them, or recreate them from scratch. Send off to trade suppliers. You won't get rich, but after a few lean years should get by. You'll need to spend on advertising - very important! You'll come to understand your clients will rely on your knowledge and will trust you. Don't let them down.

 

[jrsc]

All of you being unemployed seems like such a waste of talent. I struggle to find skilled, hardworking employees all the time. I'm 33, have owned a print shop for several years, and my staff consists of both young and old. I don't know why someone would turn away people in their 50's who are skilled at their job. They way I see it is they will most likely work until retirement which is significantly longer than you can keep most young people in a job. Prepress people are some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry and some of the few people that understand every role in a print shop. One of our new expansion methods is launching multiple online brands where employees don't necessarily need to be in our production facilities. I'd be interested in hearing from some of you that are looking for work. We may have some opportunities or may be able to create some opportunities together. PM me if you want to talk more.

 

[Slammer]

All of you being unemployed seems like such a waste of talent. I struggle to find skilled, hardworking employees all the time. I'm 33, have owned a print shop for several years, and my staff consists of both young and old. I don't know why someone would turn away people in their 50's who are skilled at their job. They way I see it is they will most likely work until retirement which is significantly longer than you can keep most young people in a job. Prepress people are some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry and some of the few people that understand every role in a print shop. One of our new expansion methods is launching multiple online brands where employees don't necessarily need to be in our production facilities. I'd be interested in hearing from some of you that are looking for work. We may have some opportunities or may be able to create some opportunities together. PM me if you want to talk more.

That would work for you I am sure, I don´t know but the general idea is that young and dynamic is better than old and unflexible, it´s a myth I know but it seems to be hardwired into the heads of the HR drones that this is the case. But there is another reason that sadly make perfect economical sense to favour young over old: cold hard cash! You are probably in the US so you may find this strange but older employees get higher wages, more days off, higher health franchises that result in higher wage by-costs. all these things lead to an over 50 simply becoming too expensive for a employer to take on. You can employ 2.5 younger ones to one over 50. (number pulled out of my ass but not too far off) It´s ironic that all the decade long efforts by unions and various governments to give people a better life are now biting everybody in the arse.

 

[hensunsan]

I’m at something of a crossroads myself. I’m 44, and started as a typesetter, then shifted into prepress and got qualified. I was made redundant and found a new job at a government in-plant, but at 20% less pay. I worked my backside off to prove I was worth more, and learned XMPie and Planetpress. On the XMPie side I didn’t just use the plugin: I got in pretty deep with the scripting side using uPlan, uProduce and now I’m also setting up the web 2 print side of things with uStore. I also learned most of the machinery and the wide format, so I can pretty much see a job through from start to finish without it touching another pair of hands. My bosses were certainly pleased with me, and entered me into a national ‘Employee of the Year’ competition, which I won.

The trouble is, every member of production has the same generic job description, written by people who know nothing about what we do. The JD covers everything: prepress, XMPie, small offset litho, making ID badges, running copiers, print finishing. Everything is at the same pay grade. My colleagues have no qualifications, no real understanding of print, yet they get paid the same as me, even if all they do is push buttons on a photocopier. Splitting us onto separate JDs would be a hassle, and would probably result in some people’s pay going down, so the unions won’t help either.

I stuck it out in the hope that someone would see sense, but we’ve just been through a review and the management, with union backing, decided that the pay grades will stay the same.

So I worked out how much I earn after tax, and compared that to how much someone on minimum wage gets, and was pretty shocked to discover the difference was only £3,500pa. That’s almost exactly what it costs to run my six-year old car to and from work (diesel, tax, insurance, maintenance & depreciation). So I could literally sell my car and get a job sweeping the floor at the factory near my house, and be no worse off. In fact I’d be better off, as I wouldn’t spend 8 hours a week sitting in traffic.

 

[Slammer]

I’m at something of a crossroads myself. I’m 44, and started as a typesetter, then shifted into prepress and got qualified. I was made redundant and found a new job at a government in-plant, but at 20% less pay. I worked my backside off to prove I was worth more, and learned XMPie and Planetpress. On the XMPie side I didn’t just use the plugin: I got in pretty deep with the scripting side using uPlan, uProduce and now I’m also setting up the web 2 print side of things with uStore. I also learned most of the machinery and the wide format, so I can pretty much see a job through from start to finish without it touching another pair of hands. My bosses were certainly pleased with me, and entered me into a national ‘Employee of the Year’ competition, which I won.

The trouble is, every member of production has the same generic job description, written by people who know nothing about what we do. The JD covers everything: prepress, XMPie, small offset litho, making ID badges, running copiers, print finishing. Everything is at the same pay grade. My colleagues have no qualifications, no real understanding of print, yet they get paid the same as me, even if all they do is push buttons on a photocopier. Splitting us onto separate JDs would be a hassle, and would probably result in some people’s pay going down, so the unions won’t help either.

I stuck it out in the hope that someone would see sense, but we’ve just been through a review and the management, with union backing, decided that the pay grades will stay the same.

So I worked out how much I earn after tax, and compared that to how much someone on minimum wage gets, and was pretty shocked to discover the difference was only £3,500pa. That’s almost exactly what it costs to run my six-year old car to and from work (diesel, tax, insurance, maintenance & depreciation). So I could literally sell my car and get a job sweeping the floor at the factory near my house, and be no worse off. In fact I’d be better off, as I wouldn’t spend 8 hours a week sitting in traffic.

But then you would go stir-crazy inside a month or two.

 

[hensunsan]

But then you would go stir-crazy inside a month or two.

True, and I'm not saying that would be my actual career choice - it was more to illustrate the point. But the realisation of how little I actually earn has helped me look at the jobs market in a different way. I can cast my net as wide as possible without suffering major financial consequences, and hopefully find something new that I enjoy and has better prospects.

For something related have you considered getting into packaging? I assume it would be difficult as they all require Artpro experience, but it's something I've often wondered about.

 

[Slammer]

True, and I'm not saying that would be my actual career choice - it was more to illustrate the point. But the realisation of how little I actually earn has helped me look at the jobs market in a different way. I can cast my net as wide as possible without suffering major financial consequences, and hopefully find something new that I enjoy and has better prospects.

For something related have you considered getting into packaging? I assume it would be difficult as they all require Artpro experience, but it's something I've often wondered about.

Go for it, if there is one thing I have learned it is not to deal with absolutes. On the otherhand the more you stray from your tradecraft the more you find yourself working down the foodchain, until you get to the point where you are considered unskilled and trying to compete with those who have been doing that their whole career.