Individuals working for publishing sectors experiencing significant technology alterations reported having the highest job insecurity. Only 66% of educational publishing employees feel secure about their jobs, and 18% report being very worried. Educational publishing is undergoing a large amount of consolidation, and 26% of education publishing employees expect layoffs at their company. The survey found those in trade publishing to be more secure in their jobs, with 21% reporting that they feel very secure.
''The combination of low pay and job insecurity seems to have taken some of the luster off of working in publishing. For the first time, the percentage of industry members who would recommend publishing as a career fell below 80%. Women, despite earning substantially less than men on average, are more inclined to still recommend publishing, with 81% reporting they would advise a college graduate to get into publishing, compared to 73% of men,'' reports Publishers Weekly.
The report found the salary divide between men and women in all segments grew wider in 2007, with women earning an average salary of $64,742 as compared to men earning $103,822. The discrepancy is largely due to the fact that more men are employed in the higher paying sales and management positions.
The survey also found that the rest of the country is drawing nearer to the pay rates in the mid-Atlantic region. Median salaries in the Midwest and South increased in all but the operations segment, and the Western US had substantial pay increases in all major job segments of the publishing industry.
''Job hopping is a common way to move ahead in publishing, although this year’s survey found that switching jobs or getting a promotion did not result in a significant boost in pay. In fact, the average salary increase among employees who took a new job last year was 4%, lower than the 4.2% raise received by employees who remained in the same positions. Still, 30% of respondents expect to leave their companies over the next two years, with 11% planning to change careers and another 11% expecting to join a different publisher,'' reports Publishers Weekly.
Trade publishers are doing the most hiring in the industry, and there are many jobs opening up in the digital sector, as 34% of those surveyed claimed their company is looking for individuals for digital positions.
The report also found that nearly all of the companies represented by the surveyed individuals are putting some sort of green initiative into practice, including printing books on recycled paper, using energy-saving light bulbs, implementing teleconferencing to cut travel-related carbon emissions, and using electronic readers for test copies of material.
