Groan. Here’s the definitive ranking of the world’s worst jobs
We've all made bad choices in life, but some are worse than others.
Thus, it is with great regret City A.M. is forced to report that newspaper reporter has, once again, topped a ranking of the world's worst jobs.
We're just going to take a minute to digest that.
The ranking, by CareerCast, blamed "low salary, poor outlook, undesirable work environment and high stress" for news reporters' dire situation (nothing to see here – ed) – the third year in a row the job has topped its ranking.
Meanwhile, logger came second, followed by broadcaster, disc jockey and "enlisted military". Yep, working in a newsroom is apparently worse than being on the front line.
The world's worst jobs
Profession | Salary | Growth outlook in next 10 years |
Newspaper reporter | $36,390 | -9% |
Logger | $35,160 | -4% |
Broadcaster | $37,200 | -9% |
Disc jockey | $29,010 | -11% |
Enlisted military | $27,936 | N/A |
Pest control worker | $30,660 | -1% |
Retail sales person | $21,670 | 7% |
Advertising sales person | $47,890 | -3% |
Taxi driver | $23,210 | 13% |
Firefighter | $45,970 | 5% |
On the flipside, with a six-figure salary and an encouraging growth outlook, data scientist ranked as the world's best job, followed by statistician and information security analyst. Also listed among the top jobs were audiologist and actuary.
"Declining employment opportunities contributed to the inclusion of many of the 10 worst careers," pointed out Kyle Kensing, online content editor at CareerCast.
"Traditional news media is particularly hard hit due to newspapers folding or moving to digital-only, and waning advertising revenue."
Not to worry, though: he breezily suggested those in the media looking for new roles "can parlay their skills into a career as a podcaster, online news producer or data journalist".
Meanwhile, news reporters looking to broaden their skills can move to "public relations, or corporate communications jobs". Hmm. Might be better to retrain and target the space sector instead…
The world's best jobs
Profession | Salary | Growth outlook in next 10 years |
Data Scientist | $128,240 | 16.02% |
Statistician | $79,990 | 34% |
Information security analyst | $88,890 | 18% |
Audiologist | $73,060 | 29% |
Diagnostic medical sonographer | $62,540 | 24% |
Mathematician | $103,720 | 21% |
Software engineer | $97,990 | 17% |
Computer systems analyst | $82,710 | 21% |
Speech pathologist | $71,550 | 21% |
Actuary | $96,700 | 18% |