Occupation Profile for Bookbinders
Perform highly skilled hand finishing operations, such as grooving and lettering to bind books.
Signficant Points
- Employment is expected to decline rapidly, reflecting the use of more productive machinery and the growth of imports of bound printed material.
- Opportunities for hand bookbinders are limited because only a small number of establishments do this highly specialized work.
- Most bookbinders and bindery workers train on the job.
Earnings
Median hourly earnings of bookbinders were $14.55 in May 2006, compared to $13.16 per hour for all production occupations. The middle 50 percent earned between $10.48 and $19.34 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.30, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $22.69.
Median hourly earnings of bindery workers were $12.29 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $9.67 and $16.02 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.93, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $20.14.
Job Outlook
Employment of bookbinders and bindery workers is projected to decline rapidly between 2006 and 2016, but opportunities should be good because many job openings are created by bindery workers who transfer to other occupations.
Employment change. Overall employment of bookbinders and bindery workers is expected to decline rapidly by 21 percent between 2006 and 2016. Over this period, demand for domestic bindery workers will slow as productivity in printing and bindery operations increases. Computers have caused binding to become increasingly automated, and coupled with other technological advances, have reduced labor requirements. Consequently, more printing companies are expected to perform bindery services in-house rather than send the work to specialized binding shops. Also, some bindery jobs will be lost because of outsourcing of work to firms in foreign countries where books and other materials that take a long time to make can be produced more cheaply.
More efficient binding machinery will slow growth in demand for specialized bindery workers who assist skilled bookbinders. The number of establishments that do hand bookbinding is small, also limiting growth.
Job prospects. Bindery workers generally face favorable job opportunities because many workers leave these jobs and there is a recurring need to replace them. However, improvements in binding machinery mean fewer will be replaced than leave. Additionally, many skilled bookbinders are older and will likely retire in the next decade. Experienced workers will continue to have the best opportunities for these skilled jobs. Prospects for all bindery jobs will be best for workers who have completed training or certification programs, internships, or who have experience in a related production occupation.
Employment
In 2006, bookbinders and bindery workers held about 72,000 jobs, including 7,200 as skilled bookbinders and 65,000 as bindery workers. More than 3 out of 4 bookbinding and bindery jobs are in printing and related support activities. Traditionally, the largest employers of bindery workers were bindery trade shops, which are companies that specialize in providing binding services for printers without binderies or whose printing production exceeds their binding capabilities. However, this type of binding is now being done increasingly in-house, and is now called in-line finishing.
The publishing industry employed less than 1 in 10 bindery workers. Other bindery workers were found in the employment services industry, which supplies temporary workers to companies that require their services.