Why technical writing jobs are among the best writing options in an economic slump

I think technical writing is one of the best writing niches in an economic downturn. The reason is simple. Think of all the things people stop doing in an economic depression. First of all, they stop buying and buying. That takes a chunk out of the income of copywriters in general because when people start saving their money, there is less for most copywriters to do since the main purpose of business copywriters is to sell something.

SIDEBAR: Actually, that may work well for top-tier elite copywriters with well-established track records because, in an environment that forgives any mistakes, employers wouldn’t want to take a chance on novice copywriters. Business owners and direct marketers would play it safe and hire only the “proven entities.” Therefore, veteran copywriters can see an increase in their income. But during a recession, the vast majority of average copywriters may see a drop in their business volume or the fees they charge.

The same goes for journalism. As of this writing, print journalism is in deep decline. There are almost no daily newspapers in the United States that are making a profit simply because people, especially the under-thirty generation, don’t buy or read newspapers. Especially not when the average weekend edition sells for 50 or 75 cents these days and jumps up to $5 for weekend editions! People don’t have that kind of money to spare in a recession for an item that gets thrown out in 24 hours.

And when it comes to online journalism, the alternatives are so many that it’s again hard to make money up front as an online journalist in this new environment where every blog is a potential source of free news and commentary.

But technical writing has less (what economists would call) “elasticity of demand” in economic downturns simply because people still need to learn how to operate systems, how to take medicine, what to do with their lives, health, property, and money. And it’s the privilege of a technical writer to describe how a savings account works, the benefits of a new training program one can take while the economy improves, or how to properly configure new productivity software to save time. The main objective of technical writing is to instruct, explain and tutor. And the need for that will never diminish in good times or bad.