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25 jobs that will disappear in the future. And why
Even before the pandemic, a large drop in demand for these occupations was anticipated.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the nation’s workforce, with unprecedented levels of unemployment putting millions out of work amid a public health crisis. Everyone’s question is when, if ever, will those jobs come back? And for some job sectors that were already shrinking before the recession, the outlook is even bleaker.
During the week ending August 15, more than 1.1 million people filed claims for unemployment benefits. In July, the unemployment rate for workers 55 and older was 8.8%, and the overall unemployment rate reached 10.2%.
Many of the jobs lost this spring and summer were the result of the mandatory temporary closures of restaurants, movie theaters, stores, gyms, and other businesses deemed non-essential. Whether those jobs will return is hard to know because much will depend on the success of communities in containing the spread of the coronavirus. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently analyzed its data to determine which jobs would face big losses in the next eight years.
See Top 25 Part-Time Jobs for Retirees
Jobs that will disappear in the future And why
The following sectors are projected to experience job losses in the double digits, suggesting that some of them could disappear in the not-too-distant future (some figures have been rounded):
1. Assistant Engineer (locomotives)
Workers in 2018: 500
The projection for 2028: 200
Expected drop (2018-2028): 68.3%
Average annual salary: $63,750
First of all, there aren’t many people doing these jobs, so every job lost has a big impact. Assistant train drivers are responsible for monitoring railway signals and tracks to ensure that the train is moving safely. However, improvements in technology have reduced the need for a person to carry out this task.
2. Respiratory physiotherapy assistants
Workers in 2018: 9,300
The projection for 2028: 3,900
Expected drop (2018-2028): 57.5%
Average annual salary: $50,900
The work these aides do—monitoring and using mechanical ventilators and other oxygen delivery devices to assist in the treatment of patients in emergency rooms and intensive care units, among others—has been essential and heroic during the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 . In any case, a reduction in the number of works with this denomination is expected. Some of these aides will likely move up to respiratory physiotherapist positions, which offer a higher salary and growth prospects of 21% by 2028.
3. Vehicle parking control agents
Workers in 2018: 8,600
The projection for 2028: 5,400
Expected drop (2018-2028): 36.7%
Average annual salary: $40,920
If you’ve ever gotten a parking ticket, you’ll think these officers are lurking around every corner. But according to BLS projections, the number of these workers on the streets will fall by more than a third in the next eight years.
4. Word processors and typists
Workers in 2018: 60,400
The projection for 2028: 40,000
Expected drop (2018-2028): 33.8%
Average annual salary: $40,340
These workers perform various administrative tasks in an office, such as typing reports and letters, and filing and saving digital documents. These tasks will still be necessary, but the occupation itself is disappearing as other employees take over those responsibilities.
5. Watchmakers
Workers in 2018: 3,000
Projection for 2028: 2,100
Expected drop (2018-2028): 29.6%
Average annual salary: $42,520
The huge market in watches today is for smartwatches that you can use to make calls, read texts, and run dozens of digital apps. Sales of those devices could hit $96 billion over the next seven years. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like watchmakers specializing in fixing more traditional mechanical watches will be part of that boom.
6. Installers and repairers of electronic equipment for motor vehicles
Workers in 2018: 11,000
The projection for 2028: 7,900
Expected drop (2018-2028): 28.6%
Average annual salary: $37,380
These operators install and fix GPS navigation systems, sound systems, and video screens that allow you to see what’s behind your vehicle when you’re backing up. These features are more popular than ever, which means they were once expensive accessories, but now they come pre-installed and require less service. That also means less work for these specialists.
7. Telephone operators
Workers in 2018: 5,700
The projection for 2028: 4,100
Expected drop (2018-2028): 28.4%
Average annual salary: $35,750
Digital automation continues to shrink job opportunities in this once iconic sector. Nowadays, to look up a phone number, people tend to ask Siri instead of calling a human operator. When AT&T split in 1984, the company employed 40,000 telephone operators.
8. Cutters and trimmers
Workers in 2018: 10,700
The projection for 2028: 7,700
Expected drop (2018-2028): 28.4%
Average annual salary: $30,200
The products you buy in stores were not always perfectly shaped. At various stages of the assembly process, a cutter or trimmer had to intervene manually to smooth out jagged edges and cut loose threads. But as manufacturing technologies advance, the need for these operators is reducing.
9. Postmasters and Postmasters
Workers in 2018: 13,300
The projection for 2028: 9,600
Expected drop (2018-2028): 27.5%
Average annual salary: $76,900
The US Postal Service (USPS) has survived for 245 years, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to changes in society. As more people, companies, and advertisers communicate via email and other digital options, the USPS has seen a marked decline in mail volume since 2015. That means less job security for postal bosses and superintendents.
10. Switch Operators
Workers in 2018: 73,400
The projection for 2028: 55,900
Expected drop (2018-2028): 23.8%
Average annual salary: $30,610
Like the telephone operators in seventh place on this list, switchboard operators are losing their jobs largely because of technology. The difference is that these operators work for large companies that need a person to direct calls to employees or to messaging services and who can forward calls or take messages for important people.
11. Postal Service Mail Sorters
Workers in 2018: 99,700
The projection for 2028: 76,000
Expected drop (2018-2028): 23.8%
Average annual salary: $60,140
These workers operate various machineries — such as computer scanning equipment, optical character readers, and barcode sorters — that help letters and packages travel from the sender to the recipient’s mailbox or door.
12. Data Entry Specialists
Workers in 2018: 187,300
The projection for 2028: 143,900
Expected drop (2018-2028): 23.2%
Average annual salary: $33,490
The objective of this work is to compile data and verify that it is accurate before entering it into the computers. But now that most data can be collected digitally and automatically, the demand for these specialists is falling.
13. Assemblers of structures, surfaces, flight equipment, and aeronautical systems.
Workers in 2018: 45,100
The projection for 2028: 35,200
Expected drop (2018-2028): 22%
Average annual salary: $54,210
The longer it takes for the travel industry to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the more it could worsen job opportunities for these operators who are dedicated to manufacturing aircraft. This year, Boeing, for example, had 377 orders canceled for new aircraft.
14. Photo Developers
Workers in 2018: 17,100
The projection for 2028: 13,400
Expected drop (2018-2028): 21.3%
Average annual salary: $32,280
Considering that more people prefer to view photos on digital screens, there is less demand for workers in this sector dedicated to developing and printing photos. Some of them will be able to find jobs in the digital media field, but the need for photo development specialists is disappearing.
15. Legal Secretaries
Workers in 2018: 180,100
The projection for 2028: 142,500
Expected drop (2018-2028): 20.9%
Average annual salary: $47,300
Before attorneys can present their cases in court, a lot of documentary evidence needs to be prepared: summonses, subpoenas, lawsuits, appeals, motions, and pre-trial agreements. Traditionally, it has been the legal secretaries who help carry out this task. But today, there are computer programs that can help attorneys fill out most of those documents.
16. Technicians and prepress workers
Workers in 2018: 29,900
The projection for 2028: 23,700
Expected drop (2018-2028): 20.8%
Average annual salary: $40,510
Before printing newspapers, magazines, and brochures in mass quantities, prepress technicians make sure all photos, articles, and other components are laid out correctly. But technology has made the printing process easier, and demand for these technicians is declining.
17. Postal service employees
Workers in 2018: 75,700
The projection for 2028: 60,700
Expected drop (2018-2028): 19.8%
Average annual salary: $48,330
These are the friendly people at your local post office who sell you stamps, help you send certified letters, and weigh the packages you send to your grandkids for birthdays, among other valuable services.
18. Postal service carriers
Workers in 2018: 328,700
The projection for 2028: 263,700
Expected drop (2018-2028): 19.8%
Average annual salary: $51,310
These are the workers who go door to door in your neighborhood and leave letters, magazines, and bills in mailboxes.
19. Executive secretaries and administrative assistants
Workers in 2018: 622,500
The projection for 2028: 499,400
Expected drop (2018-2028): 19.8%
Average annual salary: $60,890
These jobs are beginning to disappear as more companies streamline their operations with software to perform some of the tasks of executive assistants and ask other employees to do what computers can’t.
20. Textile weaving and spinning machine operators
Workers in 2018: 22,100
The projection for 2028: 17,900
Expected drop (2018-2028): 18.9%
Average annual salary: $29,980
These workers operate the machines that turn the threads into cloth. But as more work is done abroad and technology simplifies the process, fewer workers are needed in this country.
See 18 Jobs you can do without leaving home And Where to find them
What are 5 careers that will disappear in the next 10 years?
According to a Dell report, 85% of the jobs that will be available in 2030 have not yet been invented. Many of those that exist today will not survive advances in technology.
In fact, in a prediction compiled by Bloomberg from the Bank of England, around 15 million jobs, mostly in the service sector, could succumb to automation and widen the gap between the rich and poor.
But, while some, such as watchmakers, shoemakers, or metal workers, seem doomed to extinction, others, such as construction, transportation, and customer service, are reinventing themselves and new job opportunities are emerging.
Automation has already claimed its first victims, mainly in those more repetitive and routine professions whose work can be taken over by machines and thus imply a great reduction in costs, an improvement in productivity, or faster production.
At the same time, well-paid professions of the near future linked to the use of ICT or the handling of large volumes of data are beginning to appear: SEO experts, data scientists, and web analytics professionals. Meanwhile, in other sectors and industries, the transition towards the disappearance or replacement of human hands and brains by autonomous robots is already in the air.
The jobs that will most resist the robotic revolution will be those more focused on knowledge, subjectivity, and human value, such as teachers, social workers, health professionals, politicians, or artists, in addition to all those professions linked to big data, machine learning, or digital transformation.
These are 27 of the jobs destined to disappear in the next few years, according to The Valley and a report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
fast food chefs
A study carried out by researchers at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) puts the possibility of automating fast food cooking processes at 81%.
In addition, knowing the technological advances of the time, the preparation would give an equally attractive result in taste and presentation. And it is something that is already being tested, as is the case with CaliBurger, in the United States.
Documentalists on paper
They will begin to need —right now, incalculable—information processing supercomputers, data analysts, and, above all, copywriters for the storage of everything that documents our lives.
The digitization of documents and the appearance of massive volumes of data brings the task of these experts in informative documentation or librarianship closer to an end, as they order large quantities of paper documents.
Meanwhile, numerous data scientists and big data managers will be needed to analyze and prioritize digital information.
traditional taxi drivers
All sectors are reinventing themselves, in the same direction as technological advances or changes in lifestyle. Above all, the latter has been the conditioning factor for taxis —as we know them— to cease to be taxis very soon.
The taxi sector, today shaken by its numerous problems with services such as Uber, will be radically transformed in the coming years due to the emergence of the collaborative transport phenomenon —and its controversial regulation—, digital applications, carsharing systems, the new traffic algorithms or the appearance of the autonomous car, which could definitively displace these professionals. Which is closely linked to the next job: that of a driver.
drivers
According to CheatSheet, it’s still going to be driven around the world for another 10 years. But, later, your own car, Uber or Cabify, and even the city’s intercity bus will be automatic.
However, there are still challenges that the self-driving car has yet to overcome, threatening the survival of companies like Apple and Uber, according to experts.
Dealers
Although they are not the safest route to delivery right now, drones will replace much of this fleet of workers in the coming years. In fact, Amazon has already received authorization from the United States to use drones as a delivery service.
Likewise, robots like those that start training to serve catering or serve customers could end up walking the streets and ringing the doorbell of your house.
ATMs
This staff is doomed to disappear due to the revolution in new mobile payment methods, the rise of fintech, and solutions such as chips to pay when traveling by road.
In a couple of decades, surely, vehicles will no longer have to pay tolls thanks to payment apps and contactless technology.
Likewise, the facilities to make transfers of small and large amounts, such as loans and credits online, will reduce visits to branches.
Administrative and bank staff
Consequently, the trend toward mobile banking will intensify over time, boosted by the appearance of banking applications, chatbots, and telephone assistants, which will cause massive layoffs of customer service employees and those responsible for administrative procedures in branches.
Travel agency
It may even be that your generation has never been through a travel agency, having infinite possibilities to plan vacations just one click away.
From flights to apartments, today you can book whatever you want through any device with internet access. As well as getting discounts, flash or personalized offers without explaining your situation to anyone.
In fact, in situations as exceptional as that of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the procedures had to be carried out, practically yes or yes, online.
From 2000 to 2014, the number of travel agencies on US soil dropped from 124,000 to 74,000, according to Atlantic.
In the short term, in Spain, 60% of travel agencies could close their doors if the ERTE is not extended, according to Hostetler.
Customer Service Staff
Call centers will replace their staff with increasingly natural machine learning systems, voice search engines, and chatbots. In the future, it is hoped that computer programs will be able to capture the irony, anger,, or satisfaction of users.
These workers are dedicated to passing calls between offices. At the same time, they provide information to callers.
But according to research by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 32.9% of these jobs are expected to disappear by 2024.
Telemarketers
Teleshopping can still capture potential customers, but telemarketers have it increasingly difficult to retain the user on the other side of the line.
How many times do the telephone companies themselves call you to change companies and, ipso facto, you thank them and hang up? This would be the case if it were extended to other jobs.
In fact, according to The Guardian, there is a 99% chance that telemarketing will disappear in 15 years, with other areas of promotion and sales being reinforced through augmented reality.
printing press
The progressive —although not total— transfer from the paper format to the digital channel will cause the closure of a high percentage of printing companies in the coming years.
But not only in books or personal documents. Cash is also expected to disappear in about 5 years, according to an expert.
Related jobs will also be affected: editors, printing machine operators, etc.
Cinema box office staff
Cinemas have been one of the leisure spaces most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. But, beyond the current situation which could last until 2022, movie theaters will also suffer the effects of automation.
Mobile applications aimed at buying tickets, à la carte exhibitions, or the management of the sale of trinkets by machines could define the cinema of the nearest future.
postmen
The appearance of drones —as in the case of home deliveries— and the internet phenomenon, together with the digitization of numerous administrative and legal processes, are some of the factors that will greatly reduce paper mail.
However, parcel services, express transport, and customer-centric logistics will grow like foam, especially in relation to e-commerce.
The tasks you need to do now at a post office, such as receiving letters and packages or examining mail, could be reduced by 26.2% in 2024.
Seamstresses and textile workers
The specialized personnel who focus their tasks on making sets of patterns or designs, as well as marking or cutting fabrics or garments, will see their importance diminished with robotization.
In fact, 26% of jobs are expected to disappear between 2014 and 2024. The main alternatives are professions such as stylists or designers.
Farmers
Rather than disappear, it is a job that will decrease considerably as the years go by and technology advances.
Right now, although the world population is growing, there are proportionally far fewer farmers than years ago, thanks to the fact that technological advances make it possible to achieve the same or more production with fewer people.
For example, in a country like the United States, which has more than 328 million inhabitants, there are only 2 million farmers who contribute 1% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), data the Farm Bureau.
Community Manager
From The Valley, they emphasize that, although it is currently a highly demanded digital profession, in a few years it will be valued as an aptitude or ability intrinsic to the job, essential to be hired.
In fact, it is currently considered one of the professions that do not require previous experience to enter the world of work, as several experts explain to Business Insider.
Referee
While many of the rules of the game—particularly in team sports—are open to interpretation, many of the final decisions are already being made by technology. For example, the VAR. The video assistant referee system, famous in the European leagues, already makes decisions in real-time.
However, both for VAR or assistance on the field, as well as support for sports professionals, you still have a place in the world of sports outside of competition.
Watchmaker
In charge of repairing and cleaning watches, 25.7% of watchmaker jobs are projected to disappear between 2014 and 2024.
Not only because buying habits and a more modern lifestyle have changed fashion, but because they will be considered just another device if smartwatches invade the watch market.
Telephonist
According to the aforementioned Bureau of Labor Statistics report, before customer service itself, telephone operators could cease to be a reality in 2024, with 42.4% of related jobs disappearing, according to the aforementioned Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
These, according to the recommendations of experts, could apply for related positions such as customer service manager and/or call center manager.
Metal and plastic molding operator
Operators in charge of hand-controlled mechanisms in this industry are also being threatened by the mechanization of processes.
Among them, pouring and regulating the flow of molten metal into molds to produce castings or ingots. The same report details how up to 26.6% of jobs could be affected by the replacement of technology in 2024, details the same report.
Builder prefabricated houses
In the world of manufacturing, one of the most imminently threatened is that of manufactured homes.
30% less in 2024, to be exact.
Whether to move or install them, in the head of any human being there is already room for a gigantic factory of large-scale prefabricated homes.
In fact, you can already order many of them on Amazon. and they expand with the push of a button.
sewing machine operators
Many of the processes that are carried out in a factory today have evolved towards automation.
As expected, the presence of a human hand in a factory will endure, but not as known until now.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, related professions would face an 11% decline in 2028—more than 200,000 jobs, howtobay notes.
In the same vein as sewing machines, the next step would be to fully automate the process with programmed machines.
That is, replace all the sewing, joining, decorating, and sewing reinforcement.
Exactly 27.1% of these positions would be affected for the same date as the previous ones: 2024.
shoe repairman
Those who are dedicated to repairing shoes – more than shoemakers, in general – will be affected by 30.5% in 2024.
However, a viral miracle can always happen on the internet and catapult your business —as long as it is innovative and adds value to society—, as happened with the startup Taft, a company focused on creating men’s shoes and boots whose material is full-grain, vegetable-tanned, chrome-free leather.
Photographic Process Technician
Photographic process technicians perform work related to the development and processing of photographs.
They also perform precision tasks like editing photographic negatives. And, as you can imagine, apart from the most classic and vintage works, they do not have a long life.
According to the report, 32.9% of these jobs could be lost in 2024. Therefore, the majority choose to be a photographer, where you do not need previous experience to start practicing.
Installers and/or repairers of electronic equipment in the automotive sector
They install, repair, or diagnose any communication, sound, security, or navigation problems with any electronic equipment installed in a vehicle. And they could be cut in half in the next 4 years, according to this study.
railway technicians
If cars are going to be automated —and driving in general —, trains are not going to be less.
The people in charge of monitoring any obstacle could see their employment severely affected by 2024, as they could be 50% less in the labor market.
Retail jewelry
As howtobay points out, a report by the Jewelers Board of Trade indicated that hundreds of jewelry stores had closed in the US after business fell by 4% in 2018.
“Customers prefer to buy five low-cost costume jewelry rings for 7 euros, wait for them to oxidize, and throw them away rather than spend 900 euros on an emerald for their finger,” says a Libre Mercado gold seller.
This is justified by the scant interest in jewelry—and the reduced purchasing power—of the younger generations.
What jobs will be extinct in 2030?
The rise of artificial intelligence, the advancement of technology, and changing customs threaten to put an end to some of today’s most popular trades.
The advancement of technology and the change of habits and customs have always forced humanity to leave behind old professions and trades that become obsolete. The same is happening today, when the internet, robots, and artificial intelligence threaten to wipe out some of today’s most popular professions.
These are 10 of which, according to some, could disappear in the near future:
1. Travel agents
Until a few decades ago, people who wanted to travel went to a travel agency where a professional specializing in the subject offered them the best plans. They did not have to worry about anything, because this person, according to the budget, bought the tickets, the stay, and even the plans that were going to be carried out during the day-to-day vacation.
Now, however, with platforms like Skyscanner (which searches for the cheapest flights), Airbnb (which offers more local stays), and travel websites detailing the different plans and their costs, many people are choosing to put together their own vacations. , and without paying commissions to intermediaries.
2. Drivers
Although today it seems impossible for drivers to disappear, the truth is that in the near future, this profession could become obsolete. The reason: several companies are developing autonomous vehicles that are capable of identifying all the features of their immediate environment using laser technology, radar, a global positioning system, and computer vision, in order to be able to walk without any type of driver.
There are several active programs from companies such as Google, Ford, Volvo, Renault, and BMW, but they have not yet managed to completely solve the lack of confidence in road safety and the insurance of these vehicles. However, it seems a matter of time before they manage to get ahead and the first autonomous cars hit the streets.
3. Stockbrokers
Currently, only 10% of the transactions on the stock exchange are carried out by human beings. The rest is done by artificial intelligence programs, platforms, or applications that execute operations based on algorithms that predict market behavior.
In this sense, it is to be expected that in several years, the old stockbrokers, in charge of managing the portfolios of several clients, advising them, and making operations on their behalf, will disappear, leaving that work in the hands of the algorithms, or the customers themselves, who would make decisions from their cell phones, after reading the recommendations made by applications and platforms.
4. Counters
It is a controversial theory, but several experts believe that in the medium term accounting records, tax payments and calculations, and income statements will be made through systems and platforms, which would make accountants unnecessary. Or at least, the accounting team of the different companies would be reduced. In fact, today there are already platforms like Odoo that are responsible for maintaining the financial records of individuals and small businesses.
5. Telemarketers
In the sixties and seventies, telemarketing was booming. These were people who made thousands of calls a day to sell all kinds of things over the phone, many of which were promoted on television. Since then, this type of sales has been declining thanks to the rise of the Internet and pages such as Mercadolibre and Amazon, which offer products without any type of intermediary.
Especially because, thanks to the algorithms of social networks and pages like Google, all the movements of people are registered and the system knows what their tastes are, their hobbies, and even what type of products they have been looking for.
6. Waiters
Many have experienced it with the arrival of the coronavirus and the biosecurity measures implemented in some restaurants: instead of a waiter who comes to the table to deliver the physical menus and write down the order, the tables have QR codes that customers can scan with your cell phone to access a digital menu. In some cases, they can even order what they want right there, registering it in the system, and that order goes directly to the kitchen, which is in charge of preparing the dishes and bringing them to the table.
Once these systems are perfected, and the digital way of paying is included and without the need to go to a cashier, waiters and cashiers will no longer be necessary.
7. Pilots
It sounds terrifying and looks like a scene from a nightmare: a plane flying without a pilot, freely through the air. However, it is not so far-fetched. In almost every flight, there are times when the plane is on autopilot and the pilot doesn’t need to be with all five of his senses at the controls.
Thus, it would not be strange that in the future, on short flights, there would not be a pilot who drives the ship, but a crew member who is in charge of keeping an eye on the system and manipulating it in special cases. If that experiment works well, airlines could consider extending it to all kinds of flights, even transatlantic ones.
8. Manufacturers
It is not a secret: the manufacturing tasks that were previously carried out by hundreds of workers in factories have been transferred to machines, which has reduced the number of employees in many of these companies. But now, with machines becoming more computerized and automated, hopefully, the workers in these factories will almost completely die out, making way for people who are specialized in systems, who can check the equipment and ensure that it works.
9. Soldiers
It doesn’t sound realistic and sounds more like the plot of a science fiction movie, but national security experts believe that in the future, armies will be made up more of robots and unmanned drones than soldiers and flesh-and-blood people. In the United States, there was controversy because some jihadists and members of AlQaeda were persecuted using this type of drone, so as not to put human lives at risk.
If these types of missions continue to be successful, in the future the majority of dangerous operations will be carried out by machines and not by people.
10. Workers
As with soldiers, several North American construction companies are already using robots that are in charge of doing tasks that people used to do faster and with fewer errors. One of the most famous is Hadrian X, the bricklayer robot, which builds bricks with great precision.
Could the success of this type of machine put masons and workers out of work? We will have to wait to see it
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