Newspapers may be hurting for skilled web press operators as the new century begins, according to a story in Presstime, the magazine of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).

The article by Carolyn Terry in the July/August issue explores the "next generation" in the newspaper pressroom and the skills they will need.

The general conclusion drawn by most of the newspaper executives interviewed is that the number of skilled pressroom workers is declining through attrition and many newspapers are having a hard time attracting a younger generation to the already available job openings.

Quoted in the article is consultant Chuck Blevins, who predicted that over the next five years there will be a "big problem." He said many papers already have pressroom openings they can't fill, especially for night and part-time shifts.

The situation is further complicated by the new types of skills required by advances in digital press technology and the apparent lack of vocational school training in press operation, according to the article.

With two exceptions – Newsday on Long Island, a Nassau County 406C shop, and The Washington Post – most of the newspaper executives did not predict that newspapers will try to solve the problem by investing in training or raising wages and benefits.

Instead, most of them talked about trying to siphon off skilled press operators from weeklies, shoppers, and other newspapers and commercial shops.