If you have one of the jobs that are detailed on PayScale.com’s list of Jobs that Died in 2011 we don’t need to tell you it was not a good year and the outlook for these position appears even worse for 2012.
By Jen Hubley Luckwaldt, PayScale.com
This year has been a rough one for many industries. In fact, many fields were plagued with layoffs and budget cuts severe enough to threaten the continued existence of specific jobs within them. In time, we may look back and say that 2011 was the year that the following jobs began to die.
The tech-savvy, newest generation of workers grew up hearing that the jobs they would hold as adults hadn’t even been invented yet. No one mentioned that the jobs they had come to think of as permanent might become a thing of the past.
1. Postal Service Carrier
“Get a government job,” your parents told you. “Government jobs are secure. You’ll get a pension, and they can never, ever fire you.” This belief might no longer be true. The US Postal Service has had a famously bad year.
According to stories in Money and The Washington Post, in order to make a $5.5 billion annual payment to its retiree healthcare fund, the Postal Service has considered canceling Saturday delivery, closing post offices and laying off some of its 280,000 workers.
Median Annual Pay for a Mail Carrier: $48,300
Median Hourly Pay: $23.20
Education: High school diploma
2. Real Estate Agents
Real estate, formerly the favorite second job of actors and parents returning to work, is no longer such a sure thing.
Al Halverson of Burien, Washington, a 30-year real estate industry veteran, says the money just isn’t what it used to be. “The buyers are coming out to buy at much lower prices,” he says. “That means Realtors are working more and making less. The million-dollar houses are now $450,000 or $500,000.” Homes selling for half the price means a big pay cut for commission-based agents’ earnings.
Median Annual Pay for a Real Estate Agent: $75,500
Median Hourly Pay: $36.30
Education: Bachelor’s degree plus real estate license
Read who else made the list and more – HERE
