The Ten Worst Jobs For 2011
Looking for work? You may want to take a look at the list below. According to Forbes, these are the positions with the gloomiest outlook for 2011. Next up we’ll talk about the ten best. Job desirability is measured based on five criteria: pay, outlook, work environment, stress and physical demand.
The jobs listed below offer a combination of abysmal pay, high risk of physical injury, stressful conditions, or other undesirable working conditions.
Without further ado, The Ten Worst Jobs in the US are:
- Roustabout – Main job duties include routine maintenance and labor on oil rigs and pipelines. The pay is low and the risk for injury is high.
- Iron Worker – These guys raise steel structures to create buildings and bridges. It is another highly physical job with relatively low pay.
- Lumberjack – Job duties include felling, cutting, and transporting lumber to be utilized for various purposes. This job is not only extremely dangerous physically, it also ranks high for stress.
- Roofer – Whether they’re installing new roofs, repairing existing roofs, or replacing old ones, this job is not for the faint of heart. Dangerous work environments and high physical demands combine to make roofing a physically stressful and demanding career choice.
- Taxi Driver – Responsible for transporting travelers to and from various destinations, taxi drivers must know their area well and be prepared for a variety of situations. Taxi drivers experience hazardous road conditions, inclement weather, and difficult clientele on a daily basis.
- Emergency Medical Technician – EMTs tend to emergent medical situations that run the spectrum from car accidents to gunshot wounds. This job is fast-paced, high stress, and physically demanding.
- Welder – Welders repair and bond metal surfaces. Dangerous tools, high temperatures, and ever changing surfaces make this physically demanding career dangerous.
- Painter – We were a bit surprised to see this on the list, but painters have extremely high physical demands in addition to potentially dangerous working conditions. Scaffolding, dangerous chemicals, and perilous reaches put this position on the list.
- Meter Reader – Long days, physical demands, and not a lot of room for advancement make meter reading one of the worst jobs in America. Add in a not so great hiring outlook and disgruntled neighborhood pets, and you can see why this job is not a favorite.
- Construction Worker – This generic term covers anyone assisting in construction trade work. Often physically demanding and dangerous, these workers do a lot for little in return.
High physical demands, stress, and low pay combine to create the list above. Your job doesn’t seem so bad now, does it? 😉 Do you agree with this list? Is there anything that didn’t make the list that should have?
With the pay scale factor included, I think process servers would be a close runner up for candidacy on this list.
However, it would be interesting to see how the list transforms when the aspect of pay is removed. Those that are given hazard pay, or otherwise monetarily compensated for the unattractive details of their jobs might consider some of the above positions to be cake walks. Discovery and History Channels’ spectrums of programming come to mind. Ice Road Truckers and crab fishermen on The Deadliest Catch are paid well, but even welders and painters are not lining up for those jobs.
Looking forward to the list of Top 10 jobs, it will be interesting to see how many of those positions are attainable- “Being Donald Trump” is in high demand, although not likely to happen! 🙂
Great post, Trackur.
Completely agree, Sara! Thanks so much for your input. The list surprised me too. I think without pay we’d see more high-stress jobs such as stockbroker, and those more dangerous jobs that you mentioned.
As someone who is new to roofing, and at 27 have had A LOT of physically demanding jobs. Roofing is by far the worst most physically demanding job anyone could imagine. I am extremely fit, and I am struggling constantly to over the pain, for the pay.