60SECONDS: Garbage In Is Yielding Garbage Out

We have a national collection and reporting system that is broken. For over 100 years the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has gathered statistical data on virtually every industry and business segment in the U.S. The system has grown to meet the changes of our nation. But not in graphic communications.

Our industry has a great deal at stake here. We need to work to realign the categories that record employee data for our industry. Virtually all areas of the public and private sector, including education, rely on that data.

Government funding for education has been steadily decreasing at the same time the federal government is calling for documented improvement—but only in reading, writing and arithmetic. Anything outside those areas, like graphic communications, is a last priority. The reason? Corrupt data shows there will be no jobs in our field. Yet we have a labor shortage.

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook is used by guidance counselors, teachers and parents to direct our youth into “high-demand career paths.” It's also used by law-makers to make education curricular and funding decisions.

On printing, the Handbook says, “Employment is expected to decline in the face of increasing computerization, growing imports for some printed materials and the expanding use of the Internet. Computerization has eliminated many printing press and production jobs, but also provided new opportunities for digital typesetters, desktop publishers and other computer related occupations.”

There is some truth to this, but what exactly is a digital typesetter, and do we still have those people? Is there really growth? I can think of bunch of other computer-related occupations not mentioned.

When you look at the BLS data, there are 146 specific occupations listed in printing and related activities. There's no cross reference to print media and graphic communications, and no breakdown for the various segments such as web, flexo, sheetfed and so on. The only category is for printing press technicians and workers, which the data indicates is slated for an 18.2% employment decline in by 2014.

Other category job titles include: graphic designers, desktop publishers, proofreaders, copy markers, etchers and engravers, photographic processing machine operators, designers, fine artist including painters, sculptors and illustrators, media communications workers and others.

Our industry's business owners and managers are continually asked to report labor statistics using old terminology. We keep feeding garbage to the system.

We need to lobby the BLS for needed change, and convince them current classifications are not relevant. We need to unite leaders from all segments of our industry to list job titles that truly represent the print industry of today and tomorrow.

Perhaps we should call the question by sending back blank surveys with this statement: “I employ 100 people today, but none of your categories reflect what they do, and I expect to employ 150 people by the year 2014. I don't know what they will be doing, but they will need to be highly skilled, highly educated, and able to be flexible and change with the demands of one of the greatest industries in the world.” 

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