The WorldSkills competition 2024, to be held in Lyon, will see 1,500 competitors from more than 65 countries compete in 59 professions.

For the first time, however, print will not feature.

Print’s absence from the roster was first reported by French trade magazine Caractère, with editor Guillaume Prudent noting on LinkedIn that the organisers had decided to drop print from the competition roster because too few countries had put forward teams to attend.

Just 11 of the minimum requirement of 14 countries had nominated a print team to compete.

Prudent pointed, out, however, that this requirement had previously gone ignored by organisers.

He said: “This year, the WorldSkills committee has decided to apply the rules to the letter, even after having ignored this particular rule for the past three years for the printer category.

“It’s another hard blow for the profession, which would have had the chance to gain some lasting visibility at the event.”

Intergraf secretary general, Beatrice Klose, condemned the committee’s decision and called on it to reinstate the category.

Writing to WorldSkills, she said: “A lot of countries have already invested money and effort to select young printing technology talents to prepare for the next world class competition.

“It will be extremely disappointing for them not to be able to participate in the competition.

“But the decision goes further than this: it harms the public’s understanding of the importance of the printing industry and its contribution to society.

“Printing technology is a trade of the future, and print products surround us in our daily lives.

“We feel that the exclusion of Print Media Technology is a negative message to all young people who are learning the trade and discredits our industry.”

The biennial competition’s reigning print champions, France, will be unable to attend the competition despite hosting the competition, which is to be held from 10-15 September 2024 in Lyon.

Printweek has contacted WorldSkills for comment.