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13 Dying Jobs That Are Expected To Disappear in the Next 20 Years

These careers are disappearing. Is yours one of them?

By Chris Lewis, CEPF , Edited by Calista Headrick

Updated Aug. 4, 2026

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The workplace is changing faster than at any other point in modern history. Artificial intelligence, automation, and the mass migration of commerce and communication to digital platforms have put a long list of once-stable careers directly in the crosshairs. If you are trying to check up on your financial health, understanding which jobs face the steepest declines over the next two decades is not pessimism. It is preparation.

The data backing these projections comes from the most credible sources available: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 2024-2034 Employment Projections, the most current 10-year occupational outlook published by the federal government, and the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, which surveyed more than 1,000 employers across 55 economies. Together, they tell a consistent story: Jobs built on routine, repetitive, and predictable tasks are disappearing, and the pace of that disappearance is accelerating.

Here are 13 occupations that data sources flag as facing severe long-term declines.

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Cashiers

Cashiers represent the single largest projected job loss in absolute numbers of any occupation in the United States.

According to BLS 2024-2034 projections, approximately 313,600 cashier positions are expected to vanish by 2034, a 10% decline in a workforce that is already heavily pressured by self-checkout expansion, app-based payments, and fully cashierless store technology. Retailers like Amazon and Walmart have already piloted or deployed checkout-free store formats, and the technology is only getting cheaper to implement.

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Word processors and typists

No occupation in the BLS database is projected to shrink faster in percentage terms than word processors and typists. Employment is expected to fall 36%, shedding roughly 14,400 positions.

AI-assisted writing tools, voice recognition software, and the broad shift to self-service word processing across all industries have effectively eliminated the reason for a dedicated typing role to exist. This is not a job under pressure, it is a job that is nearly gone.

Postal service clerks and mail carriers

The decline of physical mail is a decades-long trend that digital communication, paperless billing, and email have accelerated continuously.

The BLS projects postal service clerk employment will fall 5% through 2034, and the WEF Future of Jobs Report ranks postal service clerks as the single fastest-declining role globally in percentage terms by 2030.

Bank tellers

Online and mobile banking have eliminated the need for most customers to ever set foot in a bank branch.

The BLS projects bank teller employment will decline by 44,900 positions through 2034, and the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 ranks bank tellers and related clerks as one of the fastest-declining roles globally.

Many large banks have already dramatically reduced their branch footprints, and AI-powered customer service tools are increasingly handling the inquiries that used to route to a human teller. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in 2025 that his bank had already automated 20% of its back-office positions.

Data entry clerks

BLS projects data entry clerk employment will decline 26% through 2034, placing it among the top 10 fastest-declining occupations in the country. Robotic process automation (RPA) platforms now handle massive datasets faster and more accurately than any human can, and the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 ranks data entry clerks as one of the fastest-declining roles globally.

This is a role where the replacement is not coming. For most organizations, it has already arrived.

Telemarketers

Telemarketers have been on the decline for years, and the trajectory shows no sign of reversing. The BLS projects a 22.1% employment decline through 2034, and EDsmart's 2025 AI task exposure analysis found that 96.25% of telemarketer tasks are already automatable, the highest exposure rate of any occupation studied.

Robocalling AI and digital ad targeting have largely replaced the function that human telemarketers once served.

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Bookkeepers, accounting clerks, and payroll clerks

BLS groups bookkeepers, accounting clerks, and auditing clerks together and projects a 6% decline through 2034, while the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 includes bookkeepers in the top 10 roles forecast to decline most by 2030.

Payroll clerks are separately projected to shed 27,000 positions by 2034. Accounting software platforms like QuickBooks and Xero, combined with AI-based financial tools, can now perform most routine bookkeeping and payroll functions without human involvement.

Switchboard operators

Switchboard operators are expected to disappear among the fastest-declining occupations in percentage terms. BLS projects roughly 9,600 positions will vanish over the decade, representing a roughly 26% decline.

Automated phone systems, AI voice assistants, and the shift to digital communication have reduced the need for human operators to near-zero in most industries.

Travel agents

Online booking platforms have been displacing travel agents for more than two decades. While the BLS does project some stabilization in travel agent employment compared to its historic decline, the broader category of roles that facilitate transactions now handled by technology platforms remains under sustained pressure.

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Assembly line and manufacturing workers

Automation in manufacturing long predates AI, but AI is accelerating a process that was already underway. The U.S. has lost approximately 1.7 million manufacturing jobs to machines since 2000, and Oxford Economics projects global manufacturing could lose up to 20 million jobs by 2030.

AI-powered robots now weld, inspect, and assemble with precision that human workers cannot match at comparable cost.

Insurance claims adjusters

The BLS projects employment of claims adjusters will decline over the next decade, and the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 ranks claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators as one of the fastest-declining roles globally.

AI-based claims management systems can now process, assess, and route claims without human involvement, and major insurance carriers have deployed these systems at scale. For straightforward claims, the adjuster function has already been automated at many of the largest firms.

Legal secretaries and paralegals

Legal secretaries are explicitly flagged by the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 as one of the 15 fastest-declining roles globally by 2030.

AI tools can now draft routine contracts, perform legal research, summarize case documents, and generate standard filings faster and at lower cost than a human performing the same functions.

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Graphic designers

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 includes graphic designers among the 15 fastest-declining roles in percentage terms globally by 2030.

A 2024 Pew study warned that 30% of entry-level creative roles might vanish by 2035. The pressure is concentrated at the production end of the creative spectrum, where designers produce social media graphics, banner ads, email templates, and other repeatable assets. AI image generation tools can now produce this category of work at a fraction of the cost and time.

Bottom line

The pattern across nearly every job on this list is the same: Roles built on routine, predictable, and describable tasks are the ones AI and automation can replace most effectively.

The jobs growing fastest in the BLS data, by contrast, are in health care, skilled trades, technology, and human services, roles that require physical presence, emotional intelligence, or situational judgment that machines cannot yet replicate.

If your job is on this list, there's no need to panic. These projections span many years, and workers can adapt by building skills that complement AI rather than compete with it. Staying ahead of workplace changes can help eliminate some money stress and give you more options if a career transition becomes necessary.

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