Closed Captioner shortage

I heard about this on the radio on my way home. MarketPlace has very interesting stories and this was something I never would have thought of. There appears to be a job shortage in this field. I suppose me being a person that does not rely on this I really hadn't thought about the need for this service. At my library we have a television in the lobby that runs CNN all day. Since this is a high traffic dual space we have the sound off and the closed captioning on so that patrons and us can understand what's going on. I find it extremely useful.

Stenocaptioners are stenotypists and voice writers that do the captioning for the television programs. They typically work for television stations or networks. They caption everything such as news, sporting events, or emergency broadcasts. Imagine an emergency, such as a hurricane. Many people's lives depend on the captions made by the stenocaptioner. Starting next year virtually all television programs will have to be closed captioned for the deaf and hard of hearing. That's job security for hundreds of trained stenographers who currently do the work. Problem is, there aren't enough of them to meet demand. The government in a hard place. There is an important need for trained stenocaptioners but not enough people can meet the strict standards.

Perhaps there is a need to promote this profession in high schools. You have to be able to type fast with minimal errors and be accurate. This profession needs to be promoted the right way. I'm sure more people will become interested, particulary those people that want to have some flexibility. The new trend to work from home may help encourage people to seek professions such as this.