Technical Writing Job Prospects
What is the Employment Outlook for Technical Writers?
Each year the US Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a "career outlook" with helpful facts and figures for a number of occupations, including projections for job growth.
So, how does the future look for Technical Writers? In the 2008-2009 edition of the BLS Job Prospects report, technical writers are specifically called out at as the area of writing where "opportunities should be best". In a refrain that sounds very similar to the recommendations we've made on this site, the report advises:
Demand for technical writers and writers with expertise in areas such as law, medicine, or economics is expected to increase because of the continuing expansion of scientific and technical information and the need to communicate it to others. Legal, scientific, and technological developments and discoveries generate demand for people to interpret technical information for a more general audience. Rapid growth and change in the high-technology and electronics industries result in a greater need for people to write users’ guides, instruction manuals, and training materials. This work requires people who not only are technically skilled as writers, but also are familiar with the subject area.
More concretely, the report expects technical writing employment to rise 20 percent between 2006 and 2016, reaching a total of nearly 60,000 people in the US employed as technical writers by the end of the period.
Some of the industry sub-sectors expected to drive that growth are:
- Information (1,127 new jobs)
- Wholesale Trade (210 new jobs)
- Finance and Insurance (200 new jobs)
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (6,663 new jobs)
- Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (288 new jobs)
- Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (723 new jobs)
And what areas should be avoided? The following fields are expected to show the largest drop in employment between 2006 and 2016:
- Manufacturing (574 jobs lost)
- Computer and electronic product manufacturing (540 jobs lost)
- Internet service providers and Web search portals (139 jobs lost)
- Federal government (58 jobs lost)