Re: A Preponderance of Females

[Sarah Lee Bihlmayer <tecscrib -at- SIRIUS -dot- COM>]

Matt Danda writes:

>I heard someone say (not me, someone else) that wages for technical writers
>have been declining as a result of more women in the profession.

I've not found that to be true in my own experience...however, it does seem
that wages are declining.  I can't help but notice that the high demand for
writers has affected personnel requirements for so-called "senior" and
"managerial" positions--the qualifications sought seem to be decreasing
steadily.  I suspect that demand has created a situation where there are an
increasing number of available opportunities that are at a higher
functional level but lower salary than they have historically been--that
are being filled by entry-level and lightly experienced writers. The
employers are realizing that by hiring less qualified people at these
levels, they can save salary dollars.

Needless to say, I find this a disturbing trend--I'm not at all
anti-newbie, but I do place a high priority on quality.  IMHO, it's often
true that attaining quality takes not only knowledge and training, but
experience also.    Comments?


|"God is in the details."                             --Frank Lloyd Wright|
|     Sarah Lee Bihlmayer * Print/Online/WWW Documentation Specialist     |
|   Technical Writing * Technical/Developmental/Copy/Production Editing   |
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