Rubbish collectors, secretaries and timber workers are among the jobs that are disappearing in Australia. Source: The Telegraph
A comparison of Census data between 2006 and 2011 shows there are occupations where the number of people employed across the country has dropped by up to 66% in five years, despite the fact the overall number of people counted has risen 10%.
John Spoehr, executive director of the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre, said mechanisation was playing a role in the decline in many of the jobs.
Spoehr said the major drop in corporate services managers from 21,804 in 2006 to 7365 in 2011 would have been caused by the global financial crisis but that the high scale of job losses was “surprising”.
Some job tiles like secretary are fading out but the decline in the number of secretaries from 94,404 in 2006 to 64,169 in 2011 could be attributed to offshoring and the redefining of job titles.
“The term ‘secretary’ is demeaning; the connotation is that they’re someone who is purely there to do typing and low-level clerical work,” McIlroy said. “It’s a hang up from an era that just no longer exists. Now instead you’ve got receptionist, team assistant, junior assistant, admin assistant.”
Among Australia’s disappearing trades are:
Timber and Wood Process Workers
2006 – 8166
2011 – 5768
Forestry and logging workers
2006 – 3379
2011 – 2529
Paper and Wood Processing Machine Operators
2006 – 7581
2011 – 6694
