fabricator

imaging specialist

3d creative designer

bindery

print technician

The Printing House

A typical day:
Check your emails and Teams to see new messages, review tasks that aren't finished from the day before/complete them, and work on new tasks from clients. Check your assigned stations, pick up on tasks from the day before, and examine the finishing table to review/follow work orders and the dates to prioritize project completion deadlines. Be mindful of how each project is required to be packaged. Maintain cleanliness of the work area.  

Management:
Depends on your manager and their working style. "Managers" are more like Sales Representatives as they have to always come to the front to assist customers, along with the Project Advisor.
Management seems to care and support you, but really they don’t have your best interest and will turn on you in the blink of an eye to cover themselves, or deem you as "not the right fit".

TPH should stand for Typical Potential Hypocrites.

Workplace culture:
Friendly and positive work environment. However, beware of mistreatment, and gossip amongst the team. Colleagues aren't your "friend", so be careful of who you trust/what you choose to share professionally and personally. There is a sense of competition and favoritism with colleagues. Instead of actually being a team, catching each other's mistakes, and supporting one another - It’s always, who is the "best" or who can get things done the "fastest".  It’s really everyone for themselves. There is an overall lack of support and colleagues may doubt your abilities.

- Elder employees don’t truly value younger ones as they say they do. Instead, they look down on you and your overall performance judging from their years of experience by making sarcastic jokes, or remarks about you under disguise while constantly gaslighting your emotions

- Lack of patience when training or teaching you especially if you don’t catch it immediately. Going through lessons fairly quickly, keep a notebook or take a video video of steps to ensure accuracy

- I felt attacked, singled out constantly for everything (minor or major) never raised my voice or insulted anyone, was picked on for simply being my authentic self

- Implore you to ask questions whenever in doubt or stuck, but asking seems like a burden especially when having to repeat themselves

- You’re doing more labor than just your role, picking up in other departments when slow - basically, a floater. Be prepared to take on things you have no knowledge of.

- Only work here for 3 months - 1 year to learn and then look for a bigger, higher paying job as they don’t honor your credentials whatsoever

Hardest part: 
Make sure you prioritize tasks that are big, and more important (look at deadlines) because they may take longer first, and work down to smaller tasks—working efficiently and with a strong sense of urgency by timing yourself on each project or task.

The most enjoyable part:
 Honing your skill sets as you learn how to operate machinery such as the laminator, scorer, binder, and offset press

Takeaway:
I learned to trust in myself and my abilities more as I'm very coachable, qualified, and capable, despite what others may think. I learned that communication is always key to keep business flowing efficiently and to keep everyone aware within the team - no matter what. In addition, I learned how to prioritize and work with a sense of urgency through organization and time management.
However, due to these reasons stated above, going to work overall felt like a drag and stressful knowing that I would have to deal with these same tasks and people daily. The environment became toxic to the point of having to pretend and no longer enjoying it. 

Worked at the company for 10+ years. Loved it. While it's not the most rewarding job on almost every level, and isn't much of a place to move up in the company unless you want to become a manager of a branch. I enjoyed working there. Mainly because of the people I worked with, and my manager I had was amazing to work with. 

Once Covid hit. This company became cold and callus. They didn't care about their employees or how they felt. I was forced out of my job and they went out of their way to ensure they didn't pay a cent for putting me out of a job. I was a good employee, amazing annual reviews and was capable to do almost anything needed of me at the branch as I took pride to be the best I could be and I honestly cared for the company and its success. 

None of that mattered. 

I wouldn't trust this company if you're looking for a good stable job. As I found out, you're nothing but a number and they don't care about their employees. There's little perks to working there... And they do the bare minimum of what's required by law for anything to be a perk for being an employee there. Do occasionally get some free swag though if that's your thing...

TPH tops other companies in jobs and pay. However there is a wall you're bound to hit. There is a limit to administrative jobs (there are workers and there is manager no middle ground).
I felt that emphasis on workplace etiquette rules created a toxic environment. People were afraid to speak their mind and if they did someone made sure to complain about what it is they didn't like. Nobody told you in your face what you did or said wrong, everything went on behind your back. And when you have everyone whining to manager about each other, it most likely affects manager as well. The worst thing that can happen is someone filing a law suite against you. 
Saying that, prepare doing some managing as well. Managers can't keep up with all the work so project management is often everyone's duty. When you have deadlines it becomes quite stressful.

Day to day operations of the branch relies heavily on the team working together and I can honestly say that my experience with my colleagues was tremendous. We learned from each other which allowed for a great work environment amongst production specialists. 

Interactions with the manager (B3B 1V7) were never pleasant experiences; and it was even more disappointing that HR and head office never properly addressed the concerns of the staff. Time after time it never seemed to get better which is very disappointing because it felt like TPH did not care. With proper methods of human resourcing and settling staff disputes TPH would be a wonderful place to learn and grow, but at the end of the day .. it's a multi-million dollar corporation.

Been working for 2 months at TPH. The coworkers are wonderful friendly and helpful. Very interesting job. There is a lot to learn. Can be very fast paced with some downtime which we spend organizing and training. The only problem I see so far is the knowledge we have we should have higher paychecks. I mean a graphic designer, creative artist, prepress should be making at least $25 an hour up to 35. I make $20 an hour Plus a long commute And paid Parking and gas. I end up making minimum wage. I guess the reason we don't make more money is because we're not working on big brands, most of the clients are just everyday people and small businesses.

I love working out the printing house. I’ve been there for about five years and for the most part where is solid and steady career options even through the pandemic.

Even though it’s one of the the biggest print businesses in Canada, it’s family owned, and they do a really good job and taking care of staff for the most part. 

You also have the opportunity to learn and grow here if it is that you would like to advance your skills or get into management.

Overall great company, they could do a bit more to show employees appreciation outside of ordering a pizza every 6 months but overall not bad. 

The work itself is simple and can be repetitive, boring, or inefficient at times, but it's nothing terribly difficult once you get used to it. Mindless work that lets your brain wander from time to time. Some machinery can be tricky - you'll be troubleshooting here and there. 

Team structure and workflow/busyness can vary from branch to branch, but if your team is small, you'll most likely be expected to learn various stations and will do more than your specific position. 

At the same time, managers are reluctant to give raises despite your efforts. There's also nothing in the company to help you in the long term (e.g. no RRSP matching). 

A typical day is filled with lots of calls and emails to customers related to their projects, managing staff, and accounting for P&L. 

Depending on your work style, team, and equipment,  you can be up for very long working hours.

Executive management is hands off unless you request assistance. Their ability to provide value is hit or miss depending on the situation.

Hardest part is dealing with massive workloads, stress, little support, poor work-life balance. 

The most enjoyable part is pay rates which is decent if you are up for pushing yourself and if you have an understanding partner, as you might rarely see them. 



This was by far one of the better companies I have worked for.

Management is top notch and personable, their customer service is excellent and I have never seen a print job go out that the customer wasn't ultimately satisfied with.

Many repeat clients.

Excellent cross-training in all aspects of the print industry, which furthers efficiency of the operation.

Worked for them for 3 years. Managed to keep my job through the Covid layoffs they had only to have my workload tripled with half the staff we had in the branch gone. Raises were minimal and I had to implore the head office for a decent raise above inflation so I don't get an effective pay cut. 
Managers make 15% of profits and that's their only drive, the financial state of their workers doesn't matter to them and so they will not fight for you although the workers are the one making the business go. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Fabricator 32 salaries reported	$21.52 per hour
Imaging specialist 8 salaries reported	$22.44 per hour
3d creative designer 12 salaries reported	$22.21 per hour
Bindery 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Print technician 3 salaries reported	$21.83 per hour

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