What happened to the Pony Express?

Do you remember the Pony Express? The Pony Express relied on a core of gifted equestrians whose job was to traverse the difficult territory, which separated the eastern and western United States. What happened to these paragons of equestrianism? The telegraph, that’s what happened. Telegraphic communication made it possible for Americans to send transcontinental messages without the aid of a fleet of horseback riders. In short, the Pony Express rider was replaced by technology. This trend of technology—now automated processes—replacing hardworking employees has continued, and recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data on which industries and professions that seem to be going the way of the Pony Express.

Although technology and the automation of processes once managed by warm blooded employees is not at fault for every industrial decline or the extinction of certain professions, recent technological innovation, the globalization of business, and this most recent recession have all combined to create a perfect storm which has severely impacted different sectors of the American economy. Cathryn Vandewater, writing for Vault’s Careers Blog, recently broke down the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data, and highlighted five main industries and a handful of professions that seem to be in decline according to the Bureau’s projections for 2018.

1. Textile Manufacturing. Vandewater reports that both internal and external pressures have affected hiring in the textile manufacturing sector, from technological innovation and outsourcing to foreign competition. Most affected by this decline in “output,” will be “sewing machine operators (employment projected to decrease by 33.66%)” and “textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders (40.70%).”
2. Postal Service. Two factors seem to be spelling trouble for the U.S. Postal Service: automation and competition from the private sector. Vandewater comments that there will be overall reductions in the Postal Service’s workforce, from “sorters, processors, and processing machine operators” to “clerks.”
3. Office and Administrative Support. Although “Office and Administrative Support” is not so much an industry as it is a profession (really, it’s both), Vadewater observes that this industry will suffer greatly from leaps forward in technology—specifically in the areas of data storage, with “electronic files…replacing file clerks,” and the digitization of other tasks, from scheduling to taking notes.
4. Machine Operators and Computer Operators. Why the decline? As Vandewater notes, “It’s simple: tasks performed by this occupation are increasingly automated.”
5. Sales and related. Most affected within this industry, says Vandewater, will be “telemarketers,” “door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers.” While telemarketing efforts are being moved offshore, notes Vandewater, other sales-related jobs will be rarer as we continue to do all of our shopping online.