{"id":24540,"date":"2022-12-20T12:34:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T09:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/?p=24540"},"modified":"2025-09-02T10:36:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T07:36:42","slug":"fastest-declining-jobs-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/fastest-declining-jobs-in-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Fastest-Shrinking Jobs in the U.S. Lose Ground to New Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we wrap a second year of highly dynamic shifts in the post-COVID economy landscape, we\u2019ve been looking into job trends. First, we focused on the\u00a0fastest-growing jobs in the U.S.<\/a>\u00a0and found that the healthcare and green energy industries accounted for some of the most thriving occupations of the last decade. We also wanted to take a look at the opposite end of the spectrum: Which occupations have seen the sharpest decline during that same time?<\/p>\n

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2019 (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics, we looked at occupational decline from 2012 through 2021 (see the methodology section<\/a> below for details). Below are our findings on\u00a0the 10 fastest-shrinking jobs in the U.S.<\/strong>; the steepest job drop in each of the states we analyzed; and what may have influenced their downward trajectories.<\/p>\n

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Photographic Processing & Movie Projection Hit Hardest<\/h2>\n

Of course, various jobs across the entertainment industry have been undeniably affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, it\u2019s safe to assume that digital technology integration has had a more notable contribution to the decline in some of these occupations across the decade we surveyed. For instance, our analysis found three entertainment- and arts-related activities among the 10 fastest-declining jobs in the U.S. Notably, the two that landed at the top of the list were most likely victims of rapid technological advances that drove changes in their respective industries.<\/p>\n

Specifically, jobs for photographic process workers and processing machine operators recorded a nearly 88% drop. As a result, they stood out as the fastest-dwindling occupations in the country during the last decade: In 2012, BLS data showed that nearly 46,000 jobs were filled in this line of work. But, by 2021, that number had diminished to a little more than 5,700.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s easy (and somewhat reasonable) to point the finger at automation, the drop in job numbers for this profession could be the result of a combination of multiple converging trends. For example, contributing causes might include: an increase in consumer preference for the digital imaging medium, rather than physical prints; fine-tuned, camera-equipped mobile devices that are now more readily accessible; and increased accessibility of complex image processing possibilities for non-professionals.<\/p>\n

The second-fastest decline was seen in the nearly 80% drop in motion picture projectionist jobs, which shrank from a little more than 8,000 in 2012 to roughly 1,600 last year. As motion picture technology advanced and the movie-going experience became increasingly experiential, the movie theatre business \u2014 itself now largely made up of standardized chain multiplex theatres \u2014 grew apart from the highly experienced projection specialists who used to man the country\u2019s multitude of movie screens.<\/p>\n

The third entertainment-related category that landed in this top 10 was professional dancers. With a 10-year decline of a little more than 66%, it landed ninth among the fastest-declining occupations of the decade. In this case, 2012 data showed that there were nearly 11,000 workers employed in this profession, whereas there were less than 3,900 on record in 2021.<\/p>\n

Jobs in Extraction & Construction Activities Shed Hefty Numbers<\/h2>\n

The third-fastest-declining job in the country during the last decade was the extraction work helper. Numbers in this profession dropped nearly 77%, from 25,840 workers in 2012 to just below 6,000 in 2021 \u2014 a decrease of nearly 20,000 jobs that previously filled in this occupation.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, mining roof bolters accounted for the fifth-fastest-declining job in the country. The number of jobs in this labor-intensive and\u00a0particularly perilous<\/a>\u00a0profession dropped nearly 73% during the decade we surveyed, going from just below 6,800 workers in 2012 to barely 1,500 in 2021.<\/p>\n

Likewise, employment opportunities for metal and plastic drilling and boring machine workers shrank 67% in 10 years, from more than 20,600 jobs in 2012 to about 6,800 jobs last year \u2014 the seventh-steepest job decline of the decade. And, while concerted efforts to re-shore manufacturing may lead to an uptick in demand for manual machine tool operators and tenders in the coming years, growth prospects for this job remain limited in the long term. Unsurprisingly, this is mostly due to the continued advancement and adoption of labor-saving machinery across a growing number of traditionally labor-intensive industries.<\/p>\n

Finally, the 64% decrease in oil and gas derrick operator jobs rounded out the list of the 10 fastest-declining professions in the U.S. Granted, the great slowdown in consumption at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic led fossil fuel companies to drop or furlough several jobs directly involved in extraction activities. However, the number of derrick operator jobs in the industry had been steadily declining throughout the decade between 2012 and 2021, from just below 22,000 workers to nearly 7,900.<\/p>\n