20 industries job seekers should stay away from if they value stability and financial security

We've assembled a list of industries that may not be the brightest prospects for job seekers.
Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, we found 20 industries that employ a large number of people in occupations that are likely to shrink in the 2020s.
The auto, textiles, and apparel manufacturing industries, as well as the US Postal Service, all rely heavily on occupations that may decline dramatically in the next decade.
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January is a time when many people are looking for new jobs. Here are some industries they may want to avoid.

We took a look at government projections for employment over the next decade to see what industries might not be ideal choices for job seekers in 2020.

Every two years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes projections for how employment in different job categories in the US is likely to grow or shrink over the next decade. The BLS also publishes annual estimates of how many people in various jobs are employed in different industries.

Combining together projections for employment change for different occupations between 2018 and 2028 (and the mix of occupations in each industry as of 2018), we found 20 industries that employ a lot of people in careers that are projected to decline rapidly.

Several parts of the auto, textile, and apparel industries show up on the list. These industries employ thousands or even hundreds of thousands of workers in occupational groups that are likely to shed positions over the next decade.

20. Business support services

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The business support services industry is a wide category that includes various business-to-business service providers, like telemarketing services, collections agencies, and document preparation services. The industry employs a large number of mid-skilled clerical occupations that are projected to shrink over the next decade, including telemarketers, switchboard operators, and bill and account collectors.

19. Household appliance manufacturing

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Associated Press

About a quarter of the 62,620 people working in the household appliance manufacturing industry were assemblers and fabricators, an occupation projected to shrink by 11.8% over the next decade.

18. Rubber product manufacturing

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The rubber product manufacturing industry employs large numbers of workers in various industrial occupations that are projected to decline over the next decade. The industry employed 22,770 tire builders, an occupation that BLS expects will have an employment drop of 9.2% by 2028.

17. Plastics product manufacturing

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Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis

The plastics manufacturing industry employed 48,260 assemblers and fabricators, an occupation that is projected to decline by 11.8% between 2018 and 2028. The industry also had 35,500 extruding and drawing machine operators, which is set to see employment fall by 9.9%.

16. Motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing

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As with several of the manufacturing industries on this list, the motor vehicle body and trailer industry employs 53,570 assemblers and fabricators, which the BLS projects will see an employment decline of 11.8% between 2018 and 2028.

15. Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

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Reuters/Aaron Josefczyk

The car parts manufacturing industry, like its body manufacturing cousin, employs lots of workers in industrial occupations that are projected to decline. The industry employed 24,310 cutting, punching, and press machine operators, which is expected to have an employment drop of 8.5%. The industry also employed 132,040 assemblers and fabricators, which as we've seen in other manufacturing industries, is set to decline by 11.8%.

14. Printing and related support activities

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Printing press operators, which are projected to experience an employment decline of 11.8% by 2028, and print binding and finishing workers, which are likely to shrink by 15.2%, together make up about a third of the 434,830 employees in the printing industry.

13. Foundries

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Foundries employed 11,300 mold and coremakers, an occupation that BLS projects will decline by 16.4% over the next decade. The industry also employed 13,390 molding, coremaking, and casting machine operators, which are expected to shrink by 9.3%.

12. Footwear manufacturing

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Nearly 30% of the 12,470 workers in the footwear manufacturing industry are employed as shoe machine operators and tenders, and that occupation is projected to have a 10.1% decline in employment between 2018 and 2028.

11. Florists

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Floral designers, who make up a little under half of the 62,610 workers employed in the florist industry, are projected to have employment decline by 13.8% over the next decade.

10. Textile and fabric finishing and fabric coating mills

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The textile and fabric finishing and coating mills industry employed 6,100 textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators, an occupation projected to decline by 19.4% in the next decade.

9. Motor vehicle manufacturing

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Like the other auto industry sectors on this list, motor vehicle manufacturers employ a huge number of assemblers and fabricators 140,580 in this case. The number of Americans in that occupation is projected to shrink by 11.8% between 2018 and 2028.

8. Logging

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The logging equipment operators occupation, which makes up a little over 40% of employment in the logging industry, is projected to decline by 13.8% over the next decade.

7. Cut and sew apparel manufacturing

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Reuters

The next several entries all come from apparel and fabric-making sectors. The cut and sew apparel industry employed 42,120 sewing machine operators, an occupation that is projected to shrink by 11.9% between 2018 and 2028.

6. Textile furnishings mills

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The textile furnishings industry , which makes products like carpets and rugs, employed 10,280 sewing machine operators. As noted on the previous slide, that occupation is projected to have an 11.9% decline in employment over the next decade.

5. Fabric mills

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About a quarter of the 52,880 workers employed by fabric mills were textile knitting and weaving machine operators, an occupation projected to decline by 18.9% between 2018 and 2028.

4. Apparel accessories and other apparel manufacturing

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About 40% of the 10,790 workers in the apparel accessories manufacturing industry were sewing machine operators, which we've previously noted are projected to decline by 11.9% between 2018 and 2028.

3. Apparel knitting mills

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About a quarter of the 9,820 workers in the apparel knitting mills industry are textile knitting and weaving machine operators, an occupation projected to decline by 18.9% over the next decade.

2. Fiber, yarn, and thread mills

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REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

Fiber, yarn, and thread mills employed 13,100 textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine operators. That occupation is projected to see a 16.1% decline in employment between 2018 and 2028.

1. US Postal Service

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Several postal service jobs are among the occupations that BLS projects are going to decline the most over the next decade. Postal service clerks and postal service mail carriers are both projected to shrink by 19.8% between 2018 and 2028, and mail sorters and processors are projected to have a 23.8% drop in employment over that period.