Benefits January 5, 2010

Worst Ranked Job Affected by Investment in Traditional Energy Sectors

January 5, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Roustabout ranks as the worst job in 2010, according to research into 200 positions in this year's CareerCast.com Jobs Rated report.
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Roustabout – defined as one who performs routine physical labor and maintenance on oil rigs and pipelines – finished near the bottom for every one of the five key measurement criteria used in the Jobs Rated report, which includes stress, working environment, physical demands, income, and hiring outlook. The job ranked within the bottom 20 hiring outlook, as CareerCast.com said the unemployment rate for roustabouts was very high last year, and as investment moves away from traditional oil and gas energy sectors, the career is expected to experience negative growth, with demand falling by 6% through 2016.

 

Roustabout was hurt by poor rankings for physical demands (198th out of 200) and work environment (194th), and also ranked within the bottom 20 for stress and the bottom 40 for both median and high-end salary. It offers a median salary of $31,000, which is relatively low considering the job’s dangerous nature, and even high-end pay tops out at just $49,000.

 

These same problems apply to the second-worst job for 2010, lumberjack, which finished as the worst job of 2009. It improved slightly this year, largely due to an improved hiring outlook, though unemployment for the profession was still very high, and demand is expected to fall by 1% through 2016, according to CareerCast.com. In addition, lumberjack fared poorly in virtually every category, ranking 199th and 196th for physical demands and work environment, respectively, and finishing in the bottom 20 for both stress and hiring outlook.

 

The other jobs on this year’s 10 worst list have at least one significant detriment – whether it’s extreme physical exertion, high risk of injury, low salary or lack of advancement opportunity.

 

The Jobs Rated 10 worst jobs for 2010 are:

 

  1. Roustabout
  2. Lumberjack
  3. Ironworker
  4. Dairy farmer
  5. Welder
  6. Garbage collector
  7. Taxi driver
  8. Construction worker (laborer)
  9. Meter reader
  10. Mail carrier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More information, including each job’s score for the five measurement criteria, can be found at http://www.careercast.com/jobs/jobsRated.

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