Entering the Age of Technological Disruption : Digital Convergence in the U.S. Broadcast, Printing, Publishing, Paper and Postal Industries

Since the turn of the century, Information and Communications Technologies have expanded their circle of influence through the so-called digital convergence. Relentlessly, this process has been transforming many economic activities, with the paper, printing, postal delivery, publishing, and broadcasting industries feeling the pinch from shrinking markets and volatile customers’ choices. As a result, increasing organizational changes have rendered several job routines and labor skills obsolete. Although technology change has produced declining employment rates, average wages have nonetheless kept on growing. In this paper, we carry out trend analysis to test the following hypotheses: 1) digital convergence has altered traditional routines and skills, resulting in a shrinking rate of employment in sectors related to the communications industry. As a result, 2) productivity has grown, and firms have recruited more skilled workers with higher wages. To test these hypotheses, we analyze employment and wage tendencies in these five sectors by comparing historical data in each industry from 2004 to 2018. In this endeavor, we take advantage of the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey produced for the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.