Everyone knows… #7Klaas Zwier
‘Come to the desk for a chat!’
Klaas Zwier is printing exams when a lecturer comes to pick up her package. They talk about how busy the exam week has been. ‘Especially requests coming in at the last minute are tricky’, says Klaas. The lecturer nods in understanding and holds up her stack of papers. ‘I’m glad I’ve got mine right here’, she says, grateful.
Klaas’ office is right behind the print shop, allowing him to watch people coming in. His computer screen displays a newspaper’s website with the latest football news. The radio is playing pop music. He’s got some time to talk, says Klaas, but first he needs to help the student who just came in to collect her order. ‘It got busy just as you walked in’, he says, laughing.
People still prefer a piece of paper or a booklet to mark in
Klaas has been working for printing company Ricoh since 1989 and joined the UG team in 2014. His previous job in Heerenveen was much more stressful, he says. A team of seventy people would do ‘real printing’. But the printing business went downhill and now he’s here, all by himself. ‘It was only a matter of time’, he says. ‘The digital age.’ Nevertheless, he’s optimistic about the future of printing. ‘People still prefer a piece of paper or a booklet to mark in.’
His busiest time is exam time, when he has to print all the tests. However, his job has become more boring. Previously, people would come by in person for their order and Klaas would talk to them about their design. ‘Now it’s all done through the system and all I do is print it.’
He still likes the work at the uni better than in Heerenveen, though. ‘It’s more challenging here; you never know what’s going to come in.’ He would like it if students stayed and hung out for a bit more, though. Now, they just come in to print something and leave immediately. ‘Sometimes I’m like, come up to the desk for a chat!’
The same
While he’s currently stationed at the Harmonie building, his tenure at the UG started out at the Bernoulliborg. There is a lot of difference between the two places, he says. ‘Law students look out for each other a bit more, while physics students are only focused on their studies, it appears.’ But when it comes to copiers, students are all the same. Klaas thinks it’s funny every time students ask them how the machine works. ‘I’m like, all that education, and you still can’t figure it out?’
All that education, and you still can’t figure out a copier?
While Klaas has been working in the world of printing for decades, he wasn’t originally trained for it: he has a background in hospitality work. He’d love to one day do something with that, he says. Maybe start his own business. ‘But it’s not easy’, he says, pointing to the children’s drawings on the wall behind him. ‘I have a small child at home. With the hours I’d have to work, I’d hardly get to see my kid.’
But if an opportunity ever arises, he’ll jump in with both feet. ‘I haven’t come up with a name yet, but it’ll be a traditional pub where various clubs and regulars can get together’, he fantasises. ‘In a nice Frisian village somewhere.’
Everyone knows…
Series | There are some UG employees that everyone knows. The cafeteria worker with the nice laugh, the concierge who can always tell you how to get somewhere.
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Famous faces of the uni | Albert Koster knows every student
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