US magazine Printing Impressions has published a detailed census of the printing industry, going beyond the usual questions about age and responsibility that can characterise other surveys of those working in the industry.
The overall findings would be familiar to UK printers: most in the industry are between 45-64 and 20% are older than this; 89% describe themselves as white and a similar percentage are male.
Job satisfaction is high. The report finds that 82% would enter the industry again and 70% describe themselves as satisfied or very satisfied about their job. The biggest tranche are those with managerial jobs with 43% describing this as their role.
The explanations for the less enthusiastic include the fact that automation has removed the craft from the industry, it suffers low margins and continues to be overwhelmingly sexist.
The survey was not limited to US printers, though 93% are US based, 5% come from Canada, 2% from Europe and the remainder from elsewhere. Within the US more come from Illinois, which includes Chicago, than other states. This accounts for 13% of respondents on its own. The neighbouring state of Michigan has a substantial number as do California and New York, but the heart of the US industry seems still to be the Mid West.
How might these printers be recognised: 13.5% are bald, 51% have short hair and 83% will be wearing glasses at least some of the time. Mexican is the favourite cuisine followed by American and Italian in equal second place. When it comes to pizza, seven in ten printers prefer the New York thin crust style rather than the Chicago deep pan style. Meat is the favoured topping for one third, 13% prefer vegetarian followed by 9.5% that say ham and pineapple and 9% with pepperoni as their order.
Printers vote Republican (39%) rather than Democrat (23%) with 25% saying they are Independent. Dog owners (73%) outnumber those that own cats (49%).
Most joined the industry with no background in it. Just 16% say that at least one parent worked in print. This remains consistent as 16% say their children are employed in print.
