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Bindery Workers


Overview

Bindery Workers

Introduction

Binding, or finishing, is the final step in the printing process. Bindery workers take the printed pages that go into books, magazines, pamphlets, catalogs, and other materials and fold, cut, sew, staple, stitch, and/or glue them together to produce the finished product.

Bindery workers typically work in commercial printing plants or specialized bindery shops. Some bindery workers perform highly specialized tasks that require a certain amount of training; other bindery workers perform simple, repetitive task...

Quick Facts


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Median Salary

$32,890

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Employment Prospects

Poor

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Minimum Education Level

High School Diploma
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Experience

On-the-job training


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Skills

Interpersonal
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Personality Traits

Conventional
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Earnings

Bindery workers' earnings vary according to the type of work they do, where they live, and if they are covered by union contracts. Print binding and finishing workers earned median annual salaries of $32,890 in May 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Annual salaries ranged from less than $21,890 for the bottom 10% of print binding and finishing workers to $50,910 or more for the to...

Work Environment

Modern binderies are usually well lighted and well ventilated, but they are often noisy. Certain jobs can be strenuous, requiring workers to stand for long periods of time and repeatedly reach, stoop, kneel, and lift and carry heavy items. Because many tasks are done in an assembly-line manner, bindery workers must be able to tolerate doing repetitious, monotonous tasks.

Outlook

The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that employment for bindery workers will decline by 3 percent or lower through 2028. Because the binding process is becoming increasingly mechanized, the need for workers to do certain tasks is dwindling. New, automated equipment in binderies can perform a number of operations in sequence, beginning with raw stock at one end of the process and finishing wit...