Changing shape

Desktop publishers

Format typescript and graphic elements using computer software to produce publication-ready material.

AI Resistance Index 4 of 99

Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 4% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by -14.5% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on creative vision.

AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.

Median pay (2025): $55,290
Job growth to 2035: -14.5%
Openings a year: 300
People doing it (2025): 4,600
Usual route in: Associate's degree, then short on-the-job training

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Where people already use AI for this work

Process digital or online data
Examine materials or documentation for accuracy or compliance
Read documents or materials to inform work processes

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Monitor operations to ensure adequate performance
Move materials, equipment, or supplies
Process shipments or mail

What the work looks like

Operate desktop publishing software and equipment to design, lay out, and produce camera-ready copy.
Position text and art elements from a variety of databases in a visually appealing way to design print or web pages, using knowledge of type styles and size and layout patterns.
Check preliminary and final proofs for errors and make necessary corrections.
View monitors for visual representation of work in progress and for instructions and feedback throughout process, making modifications as necessary.
Enter text into computer keyboard and select the size and style of type, column width, and appropriate spacing for printed materials.

From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects

Fewer of these jobs, as organizations continue to publish their materials electronically instead of printing them and publishing software improvements make it easier for other workers, such as editors and graphic designers, to perform the duties of desktop publishers.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

Film and video editorsGrows with AI, Index 33, +3.7%
Physical scientists, all otherChanging shape, Index 18, +2.1%
Cartographers and photogrammetristsGrows with AI, Index 32, +7.4%
Special effects artists and animatorsChanging shape, Index 17, -0.3%

Also known as: Compositor, Computer Typesetter, Electronic Console Display Operator, Publisher, Advertising Associate, Design Editor, Desktop Operator, Desktop Publishing Specialist.

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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.