Disapearing jobs in printing and publishing industries

Disappearing jobs in printing and publishing industries

by Walter Haan, www.war-books.com, www.southfarmpress.com

Here's a list of the top 10 industries expected to lose the most jobs by 2018. I found this list on Yahoo.com. Note that two industries on the list (20%) relate to printing and publishing:

1. Department stores: Projected to lose 10.2 percent of the 1.56 million jobs they had in 2008.

2. Semiconductor manufacturing: Projected to lose 33.7 percent of the 432,000 jobs it had in 2008.

3. Motor vehicle parts manufacturing: Projected to lose 18.6 percent of its 544,000 jobs.

4. Postal service: Projected to lose 13 percent of the 748,000 jobs it had in 2008.

5. Printing and related jobs: Projected to lose 16 percent of its 594,000 jobs.

6. Cut-and-sew apparel manufacturing: Projected to lose 57 percent of its 155,000 jobs.

7. Newspaper publishers: Projected to lose 24.8 percent of its 326,000 jobs.

8. Mining support jobs: Projected to lose 23.2 percent of its 328,000 jobs.

9. Gas stations: Projected to lose 8.9 percent of its 843,000 jobs.

10. Wired telecom: Projected to lose 11 percent of its 666,000 jobs.

At Southfarm Press we've seen our printer vendors go out of business at an alarming rate already, including Eerdmans Printing of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans had printed at least ten of our books, both hardcover and trade paperback, until it was gone in 2005. Its staff was friendly, skilled and helpful to publishers like Southfarm, but they said there was just too much unused printing capacity in the US for them to survive. Overseas book printing in China contributed to that. I've been told Eerdmans is now a parking lot for a hospital.

As a consumer, you can help at least stabilize the American book printing industry by refusing to buy books printed overseas, particularly in China. This isn't anti-Chinese, it's pro-American. In a time when unemployment in this country is hovering around 10%, Americans need to make buying stands to preserve and add to American jobs, not only in the printing and publishing industries, but across the board. Check the labels of the clothes you're wearing today. How much of it was manufactured in the US?--Copyright 2010 by Walter Haan, www.war-books.com, www.southfarmpress.com