Every technical writer I’ve known has kept busy, in up economies and down economies. Why? Because companies need technical writers. They need someone who can bridge the gap between their products and services, and the end user.
Technical writing is broad in scope: industries as diverse as finance, robotics, aerospace, information technology, and consumer electronics rely on technical writers to explain how things work to a non-technical audience. Usually, a technical writer is not a subject matter expert, but instead gathers and assimilates information from experts and existing documentation.
A good technical writer always looks first to his or her audience: how much do they know? How well educated are they? What types of analogies might be used with them?
Next, a technical writer examines the resources available, whether they are documentation or experts. Finally, the deliverable must be defined: Is it a book? PDF? Web page?
If you master the techniques and build up some clips in a few industries, you’ll find that you rarely face a lack of work.
For further reading and exploration: