Piecing together the true picture of people in print

Print Solutions

The Printing Charity has shared the results of recent research, commissioned by the charity, designed to build a picture of how things are, professionally and personally, for people working in print, paper, packaging, graphics, publishing and the allied trades.

The results release coincided with World Mental Health Day (10 October). This year's theme, 'Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change', fits with the charity's goals for carrying out the research, to ensure that by hearing real voices, and understanding real experiences, through the survey, the future Printing Charity services will continue to deliver real change.

Key findings include:

• People in print are passionate and positive about their work and their industry. Four in five feel that the work they do is important to their organisation; three- quarters feel they play a role in keeping print alive and relevant; three-quarters also say they feel a sense of job satisfaction; and seven in ten 'feel appreciated for their efforts at work’;

• Print industry workplaces are characterised by care. Nearly eight in ten survey respondents would be comfortable letting their manager or senior leader know if they were under stress at work; and seven in ten feel supported by their manager.

• People in print are impacted, as everyone is, by universal wellbeing challenges, including poor sleep and money worries; the impact of the cost of living crisis; low energy, and mental wellbeing challenges;

• Work pressures create sector specific pinch points, including work related stress and work-life balance, worries about the future, the impact of AI and automation, and general career uncertainty.

‘The time around this year's World Mental Health Day is the perfect point to unveil the findings from our industry research,’ said Neil Lovell, Printing Charity CEO. ‘Our goal for the research was to find out what the biggest challenges are for people working in our sectors. With this knowledge we can not only respond through the services and support we offer directly to them, but also help to equip businesses in our sector with practical ways to create the best staff wellbeing possible.

‘We know businesses in our sector work hard to create positive working environments where people thrive. At the Printing Charity, we are the wellbeing partner for the sector, here for everyone, which includes supporting sector businesses to meet the particular needs of their employees.’