Printing trades workers

How to become a Printer

Official title: Printers

Also called: Block printer, Digital press operator, Feeder operator (printing), Flexographic press operator, Gravure press operator, Large sheet-fed press operator, Screen printer, Screen printing press operator, Small press operator, Textile printer, Web press operator

Printers set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, newspaper and other printing presses.

Main tasks

Setting, adjusting and monitoring substrate-feed mechanisms, delivery mechanisms, inking systems and other printing machine functions
Mixing ink and solvents to standard, and regulating paper and ink supply during print runs
Monitoring, evaluating and determining press to check print quality standards against proofs and detect malfunctions
Producing a variety of printed products using digital, relief, lithographic, flexographic and gravure printing presses, and in-line finishing systems
Preparing plates, blankets and impression cylinders on small offset lithographic printing presses
Loading paper into feeding mechanisms
Monitoring machine operations and quality of printing
Maintaining, adjusting, repairing and cleaning machines
Producing digital print images, and transferring and outputting images

Ways in

Apprenticeship: Printing Machine Operator (Letterpress). Printing Machine Operator (Letterpress) (凸版印刷技工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 3 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
Apprenticeship: Printing Machine Operator (Offset Litho). Printing Machine Operator (Offset Litho) (柯式平版機印刷技工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 3 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
Qualifications Framework: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Printing & Publishing. The Qualifications Framework publishes a Vocational Qualifications Pathway for the Printing & Publishing industry (印刷及出版業), showing QF-recognised qualifications by level: https://www.hkqf.gov.hk/pp/en/vqp. Link between the industry and this job by Peernovo.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: HK$21,000 a month
About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Printer?

Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Printing & Publishing; Printing Machine Operator (Letterpress).

Do you need a degree to become a Printer?

Usually not. Only 9% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Printing & Publishing; Printing Machine Operator (Letterpress).

Will AI change the work of a Printer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026