The 10 worst industries for job security

Andy Kiersz

Apr 18, 2019, 19:23 IST

The 10 worst industries for job security

empty sears store closure retail apocalypse

REUTERS/Mike Segar

A worker removes sale banners inside a Sears one day after it closed in January 2019

Job security is one of the factors you might take into account when planning your career.
Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we found ten industries with relatively low job growth in the last five years, and where workers tend not to stay in the same job for too long.
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Job security is one of the many factors you might take into account when planning your career. We found 10 industries that may not be the best options if you're looking for a long-term plan.

To get a sense of overall job security for different industry sectors, we looked at median job tenure as of 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, and the percent growth or decline in the number of people employed in each industry between March 2014 and March 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Industries that have high employment growth and where employees tend to stay in the industry for a longer period of time are likely to be better for those seeking job security, while slower-growing or shrinking industries and industries with shorter typical length of employment will probably be worse.

We rescaled each of the two measures from 0 to 1, with 0 being the lowest value and 1 being the highest value, and averaged those two rescaled scores together to get an overall job security index.

Here are the 10 industries with the lowest scores on that index:

10. Membership associations and organizations, which include clubs representing various interest or trade groups, had job growth of 2.3% over the last 5 years and a median job tenure of 4.5 years.

9. Food services and drinking places had job growth of 14.7% over the last 5 years, but a median job tenure of just 2 years.

8. The accommodation industry, which includes hotels and similar establishments, had job growth of 8.5% in the last 5 years, and a median job tenure of 3.1 years.

7. The paper and printing industry, which makes paper and prints things on it, had a 4.3% decline in employment over the last 5 years and a median job tenure of 5.4 years.

6. The non-internet publishing industry, which includes newspaper and book publishing, had job growth of 1.1% over the last 5 years and a median job tenure of 4.1 years.

5. The radio, television, and cable broadcasting industry had a 3.8% drop in employment in the last 5 years and a median job tenure of 5 years.

4. Retail trade had 3.6% job growth in the last 5 years and median job tenure of just 3 years.

3. The textiles, apparel, and leather industry (which makes clothing and other cloth goods) had a 10.2% decline in employment in the last 5 years and a median job tenure of 5 years.

2. The telecommunications industry (which builds, operates, and maintains the infrastructure for telephone, television, and internet services) had a 13.9% decline in employment in the last 5 years and a median job tenure of 5.2 years.

1. Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction had a 14.1% decline in employment in the last 5 years and a median job tenure of 5.1 years.

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