What workers want - keeping it casual is a common trend

Looking through his accounts system, Tom Stockdale, managing director, reckons that the print personnel and recruitment company had just employed its 150th casual employee since starting the casual printstaff services in Sydney on 1 May last year.

As the workforce changes, casual labour becomes more prevalent, Stockdale said, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing. "There's two sides to casual employment," he explained. "From an employer's perspective, it gives them flexibility in their production; and from an employee's point of view it also gives them what they want - some people want casual work."

The numbers of printers content to work casual shifts belies the number of advertisements for full time staff online and in the national newspapers. Being able to pick and choose shifts and where and when to work is becoming ever more acceptable for skilled printers.

But if there's a perception that casuals are treated with indifference by employers, then this is something which Stockdale Printstaff work hard to avoid. "We always attempt to bridge that gap so they still feel as though they're part of the business," Stockdale said. "I still see these people as our employees and I treat them as if they work here all the time."

Stockdale maintains the company's success lies not only within casual work; it has achieved strong results overall. "We have helped over 60 different printing industry companies in Sydney find experienced staff in prepress, digital printing, offset printing, bindery, mailing and dispatch," he said.

Printstaff is perhaps the only dedicated graphics industry employment company with offices in Melbourne and Sydney.


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