American Jobs That Are Disappearing By The Day

Average Annual Pay: $35,150*
Projected Decline: 17% by 2028 

Office machine operators, who are in charge of operating photocopiers, scanners, addressing machines, printers, and more are expected to see their jobs decline by 17% in the coming years. The job of office operator requires minimal education, and there are 69,600 people employed in the sector.

Office machine operators ©Elena Elisseeva / Shutterstock.com

According to USA Today, the decline is in part caused by the job merging with higher-level positions, such as an administrative assistant, a position that usually requires a post-secondary education. The majority of those employed as office machine operators don’t have a post-secondary education, and their jobs are being phased out.

Average Annual Pay: $26,990*
Projected decline: 34% by 2028  

Another career with declining numbers is the job of sewing machine operator. Sewing machine operator jobs hit their high point years ago, but, as of 2018, the job is down to 136,450 employees. The number of people in the occupation declined 77,000 from 2005 to 2010 and went down another 72,000 by 2018.

Sewing-machine operators ©Luis Louro / Shutterstock.com

The declines were expected to continue at a rate of -34%. The reason that this segment of manufacturing is losing employment is likely due to the fact that automated machines (robots) are replacing work that would have otherwise been done by hand, such as sewing.

Average Annual Pay: $45,330*
Projected decline: 85% by 2028 

Commercial Café, according to Biz Journals Orlando, used a case study of Florida and found that the job of engine assembler is one of the fastest-declining positions in the country. Around 960 people in Florida held the job in 2009, but only 140 did in 2018, which marked a decline of 85%. There is an 8.6% decline per year expected for the profession nationally, which mirrors the case study.

Engine assemblers ©Alexander Chizhenok / Shutterstock.com

The reason is similar to that of sewing machine operators. Engine assembly is done faster by machines, and it is also safer that way. Henry Ford, more than a century ago, developed the technology to mass-produce engines and car parts. This is just a natural extension of that development. 

Average Annual Pay: $39,850*
Projected decline: 7% per year 

The role of the American Secretary is another occupation on the decline. The Wall Street Journal reported that 1.6 million secretarial jobs have been lost since 2000, representing an almost 40% decline that is expected to continue. The job of an administrative assistant does appear to have “staying power,” as The Job Network stated.

Executive secretaries (administrative assistants) ©Phovoir / Shutterstock.com

Moneywise theorized as to why the administrative assistant job is declining, stating that companies are cutting middle-managers in order to save money. Additionally, decision-makers are beginning to view secretaries as dated (think Mad Men) and unnecessary. Time will tell whether the decline of 7% per year holds. 

Average Annual Pay: $50,900*
Projected decline: 6% per year 

Another declining job is the role of a legal secretary. Part of this decline is due to the recession. The job peaked in 2007, and it has declined at a steady rate of 6% since then, according to Economic Modeling. The job’s age bracket skews older, as over one-quarter are at least 55 years old, while another quarter are between 45 and 54.

Legal secretaries (assistants) ©Elnur / Shutterstock.com

There are over 200,000 legal secretaries working now, and that is expected to continue to drop. Lawyers make up less than half of the jobs in the legal services field, though that may seem counterintuitive.  

Average Annual Pay: $33,030*
Projected decline: 23.3% by 2024 

When you think of the job of a “switchboard operator,” you might think of Mad Men settings, where a bunch of people (usually women) are gathered in a room, frantically answering the phones and tapping buttons on a giant switchboard. While switchboards have become more high-tech and less frantic, these improvements have caused the job to go on the decline.

Switchboard operators ©bokan / Shutterstock.com

According to NBC, switchboard operators are expected to decline by nearly a quarter in the coming years. This decline is actually greater than the 16.6% decline that is projected for telephone operators. Both declines are caused by new technology that does the job automatically. 

Average Annual Pay: $42,240*
Projected decline: 25% from 2017 to 2024

Prepress technicians are in charge of everything that comes before a newspaper, magazine, catalog, or other printing production is created. These technicians make sure that there is proper formatting, the text and images are set, and more in order to make sure printing production is as smooth as possible.

Prepress technicians ©Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock.com

Again, because of new technological advancements that do this job digitally, prepress technicians are on the decline. The jobs in the prepress tech field are projected to decrease by 25% from 2017 to 2024. The same statistical decline is cited for the jobs of printing press operator, finishing worker, and print binder.  

Average Annual Pay: $37,640*
Projected decline: 11% from 2018 to 2028 

Timing device assemblers and adjusters are in charge of performing precision assembling/adjusting of digital clocks, timers, and other timing devices that have electronic or electrical components. Again, mass production has led to the digitization of this job, which is expected to decline by 11% from 2018 to 2028.

Timing device assemblers and adjusters ©PRESSLAB / Shutterstock.com

An example of a timing device assembler is someone assembling egg timers in a factory and ensuring that the calibration is correct. This job is not the same as a watchmaker, which is a non-electronic timing device and is part of a different sector.

Average Annual Pay: $34,820*
Projected decline: 21.2% by 2027 

Data entry keyers input factual information into a computer system, whether that information is statistical, personal, or otherwise related to an aggregate system. Data entry keyers are used in pretty much every sector of the economy, so it might surprise you that data entry jobs are on the decline—and not a small decline either, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Data entry keyers ©Keisuke_N / Shutterstock.com

The data entry job sector is expected to decline by 21.2% over the next seven years. This is due to a variety of reasons, most of which have to do with employers. Employers are outsourcing these jobs to international companies, or they are reassigning them to experienced workers with a different job title.

Average Annual Pay: $45,280*
Projected decline: 26% by 2028 

The job of a watch repairer has its own job sector separate from a timing device adjuster. The job of a watch repairer is expected to decline by 26% over the next decade. Only about 2,780  people list “watch repairer” as their full-time job.

Watch repairers ©PointImages / Shutterstock.com

Watch repair has become more obsolete, as people tend to buy cheap watches and just buy a new one when they break. Expensive mechanical watches buck that purchasing trend, and there are occasional spikes in demand for watch repair. However, since there are not many people left who repair watches, it can be difficult to find someone who is a specialist.

Average Annual Pay: $37,940*
Projected decline: 8.59% per year 

NBC listed the job of a telephone operator as one of the fastest-disappearing jobs in America. Phone operators direct calls to the proper person, fielding the calls and organizing them. Many companies have chosen to automate this process, and that has led to the decline of the job by more than 51% over the past fifteen years.

Telephone operators ©ESB Professional / Shutterstock.com

The job began its decline in 2004, and, currently, the rate of decline is steady at 8.59% per year. Currently, telephone operators are more of a specialty job. They work directly in companies’ customer service departments to manage high volumes of calls.

Average Annual Pay: $46,750*
Projected decline: 6.92% per year 

Another operator job that is falling by the wayside is the job of a computer operator. A computer operator works in IT, overseeing the computer systems, and ensuring that they are all running the way they should. The USBLS describes the job as one of “monitoring and controlling” the computer systems in any given office.

Computer operators ©dotshock / Shutterstock.com

This IT job has also, like telephone operators, been going downhill since 2004. Over the past decade-and-a-half, there has been a 41.9% increase in the job sector. The average projected decline is nearly 7% per year. This is due to outsourcing, as well as IT merging the job of an operator technician into other fields. 

Average Annual Pay: $78,220
Projected decline: 21% by 2028 

The postmaster/mail superintendent is the head of a post office. The Postmaster General was, up until relatively recently, an actual national position that was in line for the presidential succession. This federal position was axed in favor of nine governors that the President appoints, with the consent of the Senate.

Postmasters and mail superintendents ©home for heroes / Shutterstock.com

The job of a postmaster at individual post offices is also declining, according to the BLS. There are fewer postal worker jobs, and that means that there is less of a demand for supervising roles. Post offices also rely heavily on automatic mail sorting, which has led to the decreased job opportunities in postal work. 

Average Annual Pay: $43,420*
Projected Decline: 35.3% by 2026 

The role of parking enforcement workers is looking at a continuous decline. Though there is expected to be a 35.3% decline in parking enforcement work by 2026 (the people who walk up and down the street, lurking around your car to ticket you), that doesn’t mean fewer tickets.

Parking enforcement workers ©EduardoRM / Shutterstock.com

Most cities are in the works to automate a lot of their parking enforcement. Instead of a person ticketing you, it’s now going to be a robot who takes a picture of your license plate and mails you the fine.