Contract print labour hire comes to Brisbane

Leonie Wright, director of the Employment Network (pictured below), has extensive experience in the recruitment industry and was also involved in setting up and managing a printing and label company between 1997 and 2004.

Wright says that through her involvement with the printing industry as an employer she developed a strong knowledge of its technicalities, and identified an opportunity to offer recruitment services to the Brisbane industry that up until now she believes has been sadly lacking.

“The printing industry is very complex, you have specialised personnel in every facet. Printing machinists that can run a one and two colour offset press can't necessarily run a four-colour machine,” says Wright.

“Then there are roll feed machine, sheet fed machines, machines that print on paper, others that print on metal or cardboard, you have flexo machines, letterpress machines, digital machines, die cutting machines and so on, each of which need experienced trained operators,” she says.

Specialised recruitment firms for the industry have so far been limited to the bigger markets of Sydney and Melbourne and though companies have offered assistance to the industry, Wright claims there has been no service in Brisbane to provide printers with recruiting specialised staff.

“The Brisbane industry needs to be educated that contract labour is a viable option. If a worker in a printing business becomes ill then a machine may be left idle, and it is essential that they can be quickly replaced,” says Wright.

“A machinist is specialised and cannot be substituted by someone without equivalent skills, and I can help them replace that worker. I'm also responsible for employing them so that offers an extra level of convenience to the business.”

The ebb and flow of work can cause problems for management in terms of keeping the presses running and the workers busy, and Wright believes that if a recruitment service was available in Brisbane to provide businesses with staff during the busy periods then it could ease the pressure on all concerned.

For printing companies in and around Brisbane that are interested in looking into the concept of contract labour hire, Leonie Wright can be contacted on 0412 505 142 or the website visited at www.theemploymentnetwork.com.au.