Printing industry welcomes COVID-19 wage support

The print and visual communications industry has welcomed the federal government’s latest COVID-19 stimulus package but says the industry itself should be making efforts to ensure stability and sustainability through the pandemic and beyond.

The federal government on Monday unveiled a $130 billion wage support package, enabling employees that have been terminated, stood down or are working in a business that has suffered a minimum 30 per cent downturn from COVID-19 to be paid $1500 a fortnight through their employer for the next six months.

The government said the JobKeeper subsidy is about keeping employees working and means employers can benefit from having their staff on board even if they are forced to shutdown, or hibernate, while the crisis passes.

Sprinter spoke to a number of experts within the print and visual communications industry, who welcomed the support but said more needs to be done to keep afloat.

Cactus Imaging general manager of operations Keith Ferrel said the move is a welcome initiative for not only the printing industry but employees and employers in general.

“Many printing companies will have been forced to close or to cut staff, or at the very least ordered staff to take leave,” Ferrel said.

“This payment (for six months) will give hope to a number of businesses and to a number of their employees to hopefully see through the worst of the effects of this pandemic. With luck, in six months we will see the light at the end of the tunnel and the majority of printing industry jobs and businesses will survive.

“One thing I have found over the last 28 years in this industry, is that it is extremely resilient and won’t give up without a fight.”

However, Ferrel said it is unknown if the stimulus would tide the printing industry over as no one has insight into how long this pandemic will last.

“This is the great unknown. We are in unprecedented times and this initiative is also unprecedented, but very welcome. We all hope that in six months future payments will not be required but I’m sure that more will be done if necessary going forward, though to what extent is any one’s guess.

“All printing companies that I have spoken with over the last week have welcomed the stimulus and have indicated that this is the lifeline required to help keep business afloat and staff employed.”

Kuhn Corp director Walter Kuhn said the stimulus is a good move for the industry, but is not a viable long-term solution for businesses. 

“Any financial help is a great idea, but we need to understand that it is not a long-term solution nor will it be available for a lengthy period,” he said.

“The stimulus should be sufficient to tide the printing industry over but every operation is different so it will be up to each individual operation to assess their options in respect to this.

“To further improve the situation, the Federal and State Governments should mandate that all printing stays in Australia and a total ban be put on imports of Government printing products entering Australia.”

Rawson Print director Lachlan Finch told Sprinter that there is no doubt that all industries across Australia are and will be economically impacted by COVID-19, so any government support is welcomed.

“The print industry in particular is already suffering a skills shortage, so having this support will allow employers to keep skilled staff which may have otherwise have been stood down and possibly leave the industry,” he said.

“There will be some companies more affected than others depending on their work mix and client base, so it will be sufficient for some but not for others. But this stimulus is very welcomed and will go a long way to help in an inevitable sharp downturn.”

Finch added that the industry should look beyond government support in dealing with any downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is a very difficult time and I don’t think we should rely on the governments to provide solutions for everything; they are doing a lot of work with banks and landlords to provide relief in these areas, so if all parties work together and provide genuine solutions for business, we will get through this and have the chance to rebuild.”

Digitalpress founder and director of sales Theo Pettaras said the relief is welcome but will not be near enough to cover an extended period.

“We all have fixed costs that we are obligated to,” he said.

“I do sincerely hope that it makes a difference to printers. However, if the Federal Government deems print as a non-essential service and it shuts down, I would be very concerned.

“There is only so much the Government can hand out. Eventually, we are all going to have to pay back the money. Bank loans, leases, rent, etc. can be stalled but the industry has to bounce back strongly to catch up.

We all must stick together and support one another.”

Print and Visual Communication Association (PVCA) CEO Andrew Macaulay also recently welcomed the measures.

“This is what we have been crying out for,” Macaulay told Sprinter.

“This is fantastic because it will give some certainty to both the employer and the employee about ongoing income stability and help businesses move forward. The application process appears to be relatively straightforward also.

“They are trying to get everything through the ATO because the ATO has already got the pre-verification for every business and who they are employing. So all the records are central there and it means they can streamline things and simplify processes which is wonderful. This is terrific.”

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