Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners

Job Outlook

Employment of court reporters is projected to grow 9 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast growth will result in only about 1,400 new jobs over the 10-year period. Demand for court reporters will be influenced by federal regulations requiring an expanded use of captioning for television, the Internet, and other technologies. Employment growth, may be affected, however, by budgetary constraints and the use of technology. Reporters will increasingly be needed for captioning outside of legal proceedings. All new television programming will continue to need closed captioning. In addition, federal regulations have expanded captioning requirements and set quality and accuracy standards for both live and prerecorded programs. Networks will likely increase their use of broadcast captioners in order to comply with these federal regulations. Growth of the elderly population also will increase demand for court reporters who are communication access real-time translation (CART) providers or who can accompany their clients to doctor’s appointments, town hall meetings, and religious services. In addition, movie theaters and sports stadiums will provide closed captioning for deaf or hard-of-hearing customers. Employment growth, however, may be somewhat limited because of budgetary constraints in state and local governments. In addition, the increased use of digital audio recording technology also may hinder employment growth. Some states already have replaced stenographic court reporters with this technology; other states are currently assessing the reliability, accuracy, and costs associated with installing and maintaining digital audio and video equipment and software. However, even with the increased use of digital recorders, electronic reporters should still be needed to monitor the courtroom equipment and to transcribe, verify, and supervise the production of transcripts after proceedings have been recorded.