Printing Industry Employment Trends in the U.S.: Jobs, Wages, Automation, and the Future of Printing in 2026
Printing Industry Employment Trends in the U.S.
Worldreview1989 - The U.S. printing industry is changing—but it is not simply disappearing.
For decades, digital media, online publishing, electronic documents, and automated production have reduced demand for some traditional printing jobs. At the same time, commercial printing companies are adapting toward packaging, labels, specialty printing, digital production, personalization, and automated workflows.
For American workers and business owners, the more important question is therefore not simply “Are printing jobs disappearing?”
The better question is:
Which printing jobs are declining, which skills are becoming more valuable, and what does the industry's financial outlook mean for employment?
Recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data show a clear structural decline in employment across the broader Printing and Related Support Activities industry (NAICS 323). However, the data also show relatively strong wages for experienced workers and rising industry output.
That combination creates a complicated employment picture: fewer workers, higher productivity, more automation, and a growing premium on technical skills.
U.S. Printing Industry Employment at a Glance
The BLS classifies Printing and Related Support Activities under manufacturing and includes businesses involved in printing newspapers, books, labels, business cards, stationery, business forms, and other printed materials, as well as supporting activities such as data imaging, platemaking, and bookbinding.
The latest annual BLS industry productivity data show:
| Year | U.S. Printing Industry Employment |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 444,500 |
| 2020 | 392,600 |
| 2021 | 391,300 |
| 2022 | 399,000 |
| 2023 | 390,200 |
| 2024 | 375,700 |
| 2025 | 370,800 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
From 2019 to 2025, employment declined by approximately 16.6%.
From 2024 to 2025 alone, employment fell approximately 1.3%.
This confirms what many Americans have experienced: the traditional printing workforce is considerably smaller than it was before the pandemic.
However, employment alone does not tell the complete story.
Why Are Printing Jobs Declining?
Several structural forces are reshaping employment.
1. Digital substitution
Businesses increasingly distribute documents, invoices, marketing materials, publications, and communications electronically.
The BLS expects desktop-publishing employment to decline 12% between 2024 and 2034, partly because organizations increasingly publish materials electronically rather than printing them.
This trend affects jobs connected to traditional document production.
2. Automation
Modern printing plants can perform many tasks that previously required several employees.
Automated presses, digital printing systems, computerized prepress workflows, automated finishing equipment, robotics, quality-control systems, and workflow-management software can increase output without requiring proportional increases in headcount.
For printing companies, this can improve margins.
For workers, however, it means that repetitive production jobs are more vulnerable.
3. Productivity improvements
One of the most important—and sometimes overlooked—employment trends is the relationship between output and labor.
BLS data show that industry sectoral output increased from approximately $88.9 billion in 2024 to $90.2 billion in 2025, while employment declined from approximately 375,700 to 370,800.
That means the industry produced more economic output with fewer workers.
A simplified calculation illustrates the change.
Estimated output per industry worker
2024:
$88.87 billion ÷ 375,700 workers ≈ $236,500 per worker
2025:
$90.19 billion ÷ 370,800 workers ≈ $243,200 per worker
That represents an estimated increase of roughly 2.8% in output per worker.
This is not the same as worker productivity as formally calculated by BLS, but it is a useful financial indicator.
The implication is significant:
The printing industry can potentially grow its economic output without growing its workforce.
Printing Industry Wages Are More Resilient Than Employment
Employment has declined, but wages have not collapsed.
According to the latest BLS industry data, average hourly earnings for all employees in Printing and Related Support Activities reached approximately $31.15 per hour in July 2026, with average weekly hours of about 37.4.
For production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings were approximately $24.93.
This creates an important distinction between:
low-skilled repetitive production work,
skilled press operation,
prepress and digital workflow,
maintenance,
production supervision,
color management,
specialized printing,
packaging-related work, and
technical roles.
Workers with specialized technical skills can remain valuable even as total employment declines.
The Printing Workforce Is Becoming More Specialized
The BLS occupational projections provide one of the clearest pictures of the future.
The broader Printing Workers occupational group is projected to decline from approximately 212,100 jobs in 2024 to 190,400 jobs in 2034.
That represents a decline of about 10.3%.
Within the group, prepress technicians and workers are projected to decline approximately 14.6%, from 26,200 jobs to 22,300.
The important point for American workers is that not every printing-related career is experiencing the same trend.
The industry is increasingly rewarding workers who can operate, maintain, troubleshoot, or optimize sophisticated production systems.
Printing Jobs Most Vulnerable to Automation
The jobs most exposed to long-term employment pressure tend to involve repetitive processes.
Examples include:
Traditional prepress production
Basic document preparation
Repetitive machine operation
Manual finishing
Routine production inspection
Traditional typesetting
Basic desktop publishing
Repetitive administrative production tasks
The BLS projects desktop-publisher employment to fall 12% from 2024 to 2034, from approximately 5,000 jobs to 4,400.
For workers entering the industry, this is an important warning.
Learning only one traditional printing process may not provide sufficient long-term career protection.
The Jobs That May Become More Valuable
The future of printing is increasingly connected to technology.
Workers with skills in the following areas may be better positioned:
Digital printing
Digital presses allow printing companies to economically produce shorter runs, customized products, variable data, and personalized marketing materials.
Automation
Understanding automated production systems can make workers more valuable because companies need people who can monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize automated equipment.
Color management
Color accuracy remains critical for commercial printing, packaging, branding, and high-value specialty products.
Data and workflow management
Modern printing operations increasingly connect customer files, software, production equipment, inventory, and fulfillment.
Workers who understand these workflows can become important links between customers and production.
Packaging
Packaging represents one of the more important opportunities for printers looking to move away from declining traditional print categories.
Equipment maintenance
As printing equipment becomes more sophisticated, technicians capable of maintaining digital presses, finishing equipment, automation systems, and electrical/mechanical components can become increasingly valuable.
What American Printing Workers Are Likely to Experience
Based on current employment and occupational data, the future is unlikely to be a simple collapse of printing employment.
Instead, the workforce is likely to experience occupational polarization.
Some traditional positions will continue to disappear.
At the same time, companies will continue hiring for:
machine technicians,
digital press operators,
production supervisors,
automation specialists,
maintenance technicians,
workflow specialists,
packaging specialists,
color-management professionals,
sales engineers,
customer-service specialists, and
technology-oriented production managers.
The printing worker of the future may therefore look more like a manufacturing technician than a traditional press operator.
What Does This Mean for Printing Companies Financially?
Employment trends matter because labor is one of the largest operating costs in manufacturing.
A simplified printing-company income statement might look like this:
Revenue
minus
Paper and substrate costs
minus
Ink and consumables
minus
Labor
minus
Energy
minus
Equipment and maintenance
minus
Overhead
equals
Operating profit
If automation allows a company to produce the same or greater volume with fewer employees, labor cost per unit can decline.
That can improve operating margins—assuming demand remains strong enough.
This is one reason why falling employment does not necessarily mean the printing industry is financially unhealthy.
A Key Financial Indicator: Output vs. Employment
The latest BLS data offer an interesting contrast.
Industry employment:
2024: 375,700
2025: 370,800
Industry output:
2024: approximately $88.87 billion
2025: approximately $90.19 billion
Therefore:
Employment ↓
while
Output ↑
This is exactly the type of structural change investors and business owners should watch.
It suggests that technology, capital investment, pricing, product mix, and worker productivity are becoming increasingly important.
Industry Establishments Remain Numerous
Another important observation is that the U.S. still has a large number of printing establishments.
BLS data show approximately 27,525 private printing and related support establishments in the fourth quarter of 2025.
That means the industry is not simply being replaced by a handful of giant companies.
The U.S. printing market continues to contain a large number of businesses, including small and medium-sized printers.
This matters because employment opportunities can remain geographically distributed even while national employment declines.
What Readers Should Look for When Evaluating a Printing Company
For investors, entrepreneurs, and employees, the quality of a printing business increasingly depends on its product mix.
A traditional commercial printer heavily dependent on declining paper-document demand may face greater structural pressure.
A company specializing in:
packaging,
labels,
specialty printing,
industrial applications,
personalized products,
direct mail,
high-value commercial printing,
short-run digital printing,
fulfillment,
signage, or
integrated marketing services
may have a different growth profile.
Therefore, “printing industry” should not be treated as a single homogeneous market.
Two companies classified within the same broad industry can have dramatically different financial prospects.
What Does AI Mean for Printing Industry Employment?
Artificial intelligence is unlikely to eliminate the printing industry by itself.
Instead, AI is more likely to change the tasks performed by employees.
Potential applications include:
automated artwork preparation,
image enhancement,
predictive maintenance,
production scheduling,
automated quality control,
demand forecasting,
personalized marketing,
workflow optimization,
customer-service automation, and
inventory management.
The BLS already identifies automation and digital tools as important factors affecting related occupations.
For graphic designers, for example, the BLS projects only 2% employment growth from 2024 to 2034 and notes that automated design tools, including AI, could reduce demand for some freelance design work.
For printing companies, AI therefore represents both a labor-saving technology and a new productivity tool.
What American Readers Should Know About Printing Careers
For someone considering a career in printing in 2026, the answer is not simply “avoid the printing industry.”
Instead:
Weak career strategy
Learn one repetitive printing task and perform it for 20 years.
Stronger career strategy
Learn printing + digital technology + automation + maintenance + data + customer requirements.
The second strategy provides more flexibility.
A worker who can operate equipment but cannot troubleshoot it may be easier to replace.
A worker who understands the entire production workflow and can solve technical problems can become significantly more valuable.
Printing Industry Employment Outlook: 2026–2034
The overall employment direction is clearly negative for many traditional printing occupations.
BLS projections show:
| Occupation | 2024 Employment | 2034 Projection | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printing workers | 212,100 | 190,400 | -10.3% |
| Prepress technicians/workers | 26,200 | 22,300 | -14.6% |
| Graphic designers | 265,900 | 271,500 | +2.0% |
| Desktop publishers | 5,000 | 4,400 | -12.0% |
| All occupations | 169.96 million | 175.17 million | +3.1% |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections and Occupational Outlook Handbook.
This table highlights the central theme of the printing labor market:
Traditional printing occupations are declining faster than the overall U.S. labor market.
Is the U.S. Printing Industry Dying?
Not necessarily.
The data suggest something more complicated.
The industry is undergoing structural transformation.
Employment has fallen substantially over the long term, but industry output has recently increased. Meanwhile, average wages remain relatively strong and the industry still has tens of thousands of establishments.
That combination is consistent with a sector becoming more capital-intensive and technologically sophisticated.
In simple terms:
The future of printing may require fewer workers—but those workers may need more technology skills.
Financial Outlook for the Printing Industry
From an investment and business perspective, I would categorize the U.S. printing industry as a mature, restructuring industry rather than a traditional high-growth employment sector.
Positive factors
1. Productivity
Higher output with fewer workers can improve efficiency.
2. Digital printing
Short-run and personalized production creates opportunities that traditional offset printing could not economically serve.
3. Packaging and labels
These categories can provide diversification from declining document printing.
4. Automation
Automation can reduce labor intensity and improve production consistency.
5. Specialized printing
Niche applications can support higher margins than commodity printing.
Negative factors
1. Structural employment decline
Traditional printing occupations are projected to contract.
2. Digital substitution
Electronic communication continues to replace some printed materials.
3. Capital expenditure
Modern presses and finishing equipment can require substantial investment.
4. Skilled-worker shortages
Finding employees who understand both printing and advanced equipment can become difficult.
5. Demand volatility
Commercial printing demand can be sensitive to advertising budgets, corporate spending, economic cycles, and business confidence.
Bottom Line
The latest U.S. employment data provide a clear message:
The American printing workforce is shrinking, but the printing industry itself is not necessarily disappearing.
BLS data show industry employment falling from approximately 444,500 in 2019 to 370,800 in 2025, while industry output increased to approximately $90.2 billion in 2025.
That divergence is perhaps the most important printing-industry trend to understand.
The industry is becoming more productive and more technologically dependent.
For workers, the lesson is straightforward:
Digital skills, automation, equipment maintenance, workflow management, packaging knowledge, and technical problem-solving are becoming more important than traditional repetitive production skills.
For printing-company owners, the strategic priority should be equally clear:
Do not compete solely on printing volume. Compete on technology, specialization, speed, customization, quality, and integrated services.
And for investors, employment decline should not automatically be interpreted as an investment thesis.
The more important questions are:
Is revenue growing?
Is output increasing?
Are margins improving?
Is labor cost per unit falling?
Is the company investing in automation?
Does it have exposure to packaging or specialty printing?
Can it generate sufficient returns on invested capital?
The U.S. printing industry may employ fewer people in the future.
But the companies that successfully combine printing + technology + automation + specialized products could remain economically relevant for decades.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the printing industry growing or declining in the United States?
Employment is declining, particularly in traditional printing occupations. However, industry output has recently increased, indicating that productivity and technological efficiency are offsetting part of the employment decline.
How many people work in the U.S. printing industry?
BLS annual industry productivity data show approximately 370,800 jobs in 2025 for Printing and Related Support Activities under NAICS 323.
Are printing jobs disappearing because of AI?
AI is one factor, but the employment decline predates modern generative AI. Digital media, electronic publishing, automation, changing consumer behavior, and productivity improvements are major structural factors.
Are printing jobs still good careers?
They can be, particularly for workers with technical skills. Digital press operation, automation, maintenance, workflow management, packaging, and production technology can offer better long-term prospects than repetitive traditional production tasks.
What printing jobs are most at risk?
Traditional production, prepress, desktop publishing, and repetitive tasks are among the areas facing the greatest structural pressure. BLS projects printing workers overall to decline 10.3% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the future of the U.S. printing industry?
The strongest opportunities are likely to come from digital printing, packaging, labels, specialty applications, personalization, automation, fulfillment, and integrated print-and-marketing services.
Primary Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Printing and Related Support Activities (NAICS 323)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment Projections 2024–2034
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — Printing Industry Employment Data
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — Printing Industry Output Data
Editorial note: “Reader perspective” in this article is synthesized from the practical questions U.S. workers, employers, and investors are likely to have about wages, automation, job security, and industry profitability; it does not represent fabricated quotations or attributed individual reader reviews.
About the Author
David Mulyana is the founder and editor of WorldReview1989, an independent publication dedicated to finance, investing, insurance, business, technology, and digital marketing.
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