Mail Carrier, Meter Reader, and Newspaper Reporter Rank Among CareerCast’s Most Endangered Jobs
CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Mail carrier, meter reader, farmer, and newspaper reporter top CareerCast’s 2015 list of the most endangered jobs. Other professions that made the list include farmer, logging worker, jeweler, flight attendant, drill press operator, insurance underwriter and seamstress/tailor.
Technology has had a negative effect on several of CareerCast’s most endangered jobs. Mail carrier is the most profoundly impacted and is expected to lose 28% of its workforce by 2022.
“More and more Americans are choosing to correspond via email or text message, dramatically slashing the amount of mail and reducing the need for postal services,” says Kyle Kensing, Online Content Editor, CareerCast.com. “Programs like PayPal also allow for people to electronically transfer funds they would have otherwise sent through the mail.”
Technology has also negatively affected the job outlook for meter readers. Utility usage can now be effectively tracked digitally, eliminating the need for on-site documentation of water or electrical consumption at individual households and businesses.
Another industry in decline is the media industry, which is undergoing a profound transformation as outlets work to keep up with evolving technology. From its earliest days, the internet has posed a challenge to those steering the course of newspapers, as more people began viewing their news digitally. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 13% decline in employment of newspaper reporters by 2022.
Such projections are validated by continued editorial staff cuts at such publications as the Los Angeles Times, just in the last few months of 2015. Dwindling opportunities for newspaper reporters past and present don’t mean their skills are not sought after in the job market, however. Translating skills from an endangered job to a more in-demand field can be tough, but former newspaper reporters have opportunities to migrate from print into digital media, marketing, advertising and public relations – fields where their skill sets transfer nicely.
According to CareerCast research, based on hiring outlook and the changing economic landscape, the following rank as the 10 Most Endangered jobs of 2015:
|
Profession |
Projected Growth |
Annual Media |
|
1. Mail Carrier |
-28% |
$53,100 |
|
2. Meter Reader |
-19% |
$37,580 |
|
3. Farmer |
-19% |
$69,300 |
|
4. Reporter (Newspaper) |
-13% |
$37,090 |
|
5. Logging Worker |
-9% |
$33,360 |
|
6. Jeweler |
-10% |
$35,350 |
|
7. Flight Attendant |
-7% |
$37,240 |
|
8. Drill-Press Operator |
-6% |
$32,950 |
|
9. Insurance Underwriter |
-6% |
$62,870 |
|
10. Seamstress/Tailor |
-4% |
$26,460 |
To see the full report, visit CareerCast.
About CareerCast.com
CareerCast.com, created by Adicio, is a job search portal that offers extensive local, niche and national job listings from across North America; job-hunting, career-management and HR-focused editorial content; videos and blogs; and provides recruiters with the ability to post jobs directly to more than 800 niche career sites. CareerCast.com also compiles the Jobs Rated Report (www.jobsrated.com), where 200 jobs across North America are ranked based on detailed analysis of specific careers factors.
While 1st class mail is on the decline, standard mail or “junk” mail increases most years. The associations that represent standard mail expect the volume of their mail to increase by 2 to 3 % for the next few years. Mail from Amazon, UPS and FedEx and delivered by the Postal Service are all increasing as well. Carriers now have to deliver on Sunday.
The volume of the mail is such that it has to be delivered 6 days a week, or there is hell to pay on Monday. This is known from anyone who works at the P.O. on the day after a 3 day weekend.
The worst year of the economy the Postal Service added over 500,000 new addresses to the system. The average per year is over 700,000, with a peak of over 1 million new addresses in a year.
Career Cast must be smoking funny cigarettes.
This is great news, since the crap they hire today want to do nothing. Lets see what they compain about.
1. You make twice as much as I Do
2. I don’t want to walk, it’s to hard and to hot
3. The package is to heavy, leave it for the regular
4. I’m not taking circulars, they’ll make my shirt dirty
And what gets me, if they want to hire new carriers that weight 275-350 pounds, send them walking first to see if they can handle that part of the job, if they can, then they should be able to do everything, if not, fire them.
but uneducated postal mismanagers will increase by 500%!
Careercast, please do some actual research before submitting an article. Letter carriers don’t actually just carry “letters.” Packages and advertising are included in the equation, and double digit percentage growths in the parcel sector alone challenge the assessment that carriers are an endangered species. UPS, FEDEX, and all of the other private package carriers utilize the USPS extensive delivery network daily in what is known as the Last Mile Initiative.
Then y is there currently such a shortage of carriers? CA’s have been worked 70-hrs.per-week. Or during plant downsizings,clerks r threatened with involuntary excessive into the carrier craft.
These guys in Carlsbad must be spending most of their time at the beach… or just needing a way to link to their paid ads for postal related jobs.
Are they predicing the increasing volume of parcel will the delivered by Uber of Lyft?