One of the top junior print workers in NSW faces an uncertain future after Focus Press collapsed around him, putting him, and more than 200 others, out of a job.
Troy Kelso, one of only six finalists for the LIA NSW Graduate of the Year award, was a print finishing apprentice at Focus’s Matraville factory for four years, graduating only four days before the company went into freefall on April 11.
Four days later, on April 15, he and all his Matraville colleagues were told they had lost their jobs.
The 36-year-old father of three is now working casual at the former Focus Strathfield facility as part of Mark Shergill’s Focus Print Group. While he says he is getting enough work, being a casual means he has few benefits and little job security.
“I’m working five days a week on better pay than as an apprentice so I can support my family but I feel like I can’t get sick because then there’s no money coming in,” he says.
“I’m just waiting for a phone call hoping something full time opens up as the business rebuilds under Mark.”
[Related: The demise of Focus Press]
Along with hoping for a full time position, Kelso is among about 208 former Focus employees nervously waiting to see if they will get their entitlements as the company is liquidated. Kelso is still owed $14,303, according to the report to creditors.
Kelso says Strathfield production manager Rob Losurdo took him on about a week ago, as the two of them had worked with each other at Greenloch and joined Focus at the same time after it acquired the company.
“Rob had worked with me before and had seen what I can do, so he called me up and said, ‘We want you to come back’,” he says.
“It’s all thinks to Mark though really, giving some of us a go. If it wasn’t for Mark… well I don’t know. The whole business would be done and there would be nothing for us,” he says.
Losurdo has nothing but praise for his long-time colleague, saying Kelso is one of the best apprentices he’s ever seen.
“He’s outstanding in every regard – quality of work, knowledge, work ethic, everything,” he says.
“I can’t say that about all apprentices, but I can about Troy. He’s a great asset to the industry and I hope he is able to keep working for us for a long time.”
Losurdo says work at Focus Print Group is slowly ramping up and he hopes to give some of the numerous casual staff full time jobs in the near future.
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Kelso had never worked in printing before when he started at Greenloch at the urging of his brother who was on staff there. Starting as an offsider, he began his apprenticeship there and continued it with Focus.
He spent most of his previous career working for BHP on a roll former, which he says is similar to a folding machine and made his transition to print much easier.
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Wrong industry mate unfortunately. Since I finished my apprenticeship in 2006 I have had to jump from place to place all crumbling around me. I was fortunate enough to be part of the group who is about to take over the whole industry, however could not stand the old-school bullying style of management and had to leave to keep my sanity. My advise is get out now before it collapses ontop of u
That’s a bit harsh Oliver. It’s a tough industry in a lot of turmoil we all know that. I’m a printer but broadened my horizons into IT and have shuttled between print & IT for over a decade. Print isn’t collapsing, but it is restructuring. It will not disappear, but it will never be the same. Focus will be a different beast under it’s new owner. The lad featured in this story will be fine as long as he continuously challenges himself and adapts to new technology as it impacts the work he does. Printing businesses need to be the same, continuously changing and developing new revenue streams through new capabilities and developing new ways to add-value to their customers. I will say the idea of ‘job security’ is a bit dated. I have a mate who is a top printer that has a broad skill-set and great work ethic that has been working casually for over a year. He’s not going anywhere as he loves the company he works for and they love the flexibility of having a multi-skilled casual on their books. I myself, again working in printing have exactly 1 months job security. The company I work for is definitely adjusting to the new world of print, the question hanging over everyone’s heads is can we do it quickly enough.