Industry Outlook
Wage and salary employment in the printing and related support activities industry is projected to decline 10 percent over the 2004-14 period, compared with the 14 percent growth projected for the economy as a whole. This decline reflects the increasing computerization of the printing process, growing imports of some types of printed products, and the expanding use of the Internet, which reduces the need for printed materials. Some small and medium-size firms are also consolidating in order to afford the investment in new technology, which is expected to lead to a drop in employment. Despite the projected downturn in overall employment, retirements and turnover will continue to generate job openings in this industry throughout the decade, especially for the most skilled.
While most subsectors of the printing industry will decline, employment in commercial flexographic and digital printing should increase. Employment in manifold business forms should continue to decrease as firms take customer's orders over the Internet, allowing companies to process customer orders without printed forms. Declining employment in printing of blankbooks and looseleaf binders, printing of books, and other commercial printing will reflect increased imports of some types of printed products with ample “lead times”. In response, more companies in the industry are expanding the services they offer to include “ancillary services,” such as performing inventory and database management for clients; if these other lines of business become the main source of revenue for some companies, they will become members of other non-printing industries.
Employment growth or decline will differ among the various occupations in the printing industry, largely because of technological advances. Processes currently performed manually are being computerized, causing a shift from production occupations to computer-related occupations that perform the same function. For example, employment of desktop publishers is expected to grow slowly within the industry over the 2004-14 period as layout and design are performed electronically and transmitted to the printing press without the need to make a plate manually. In contrast, demand for Prepress technicians and workers who perform these tasks manually— paste-up workers, photoengravers, camera operators, film strippers, and platemakers—is expected to decline. Although the concepts and principles behind page layout and design are unchanged, these prepress technicians will have to learn how to perform their work using new tools.
Growth in mechanization should result in declines in the employment of bookbinders and bindery workers. The increasing sophistication of printing presses is similarly expected to lead to a slight decline in the employment of printing machine operators within the industry, as well.
New technology and equipment will require workers to update their skills to remain competitive in the job market. This should translate into good career opportunities for those who obtain the education to work with this new technology, especially in the field of electronic prepress.