Disappearing industries

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My wife did a year studying photography just before digital took off in a big way. The change, once it set in, was quite quick.

I look back over time and see things changing (do they still have floppy disks?), and think about those who invest time and money in training, only to find it's gone with the wind in no time.

Does it worry you, or have you experienced your trade or skill becoming none existent or evolving into something beyond your skill level?

Several times, most of the time over time.

Alice, you must run as fast as you can just to stand still.

I wanted to take web design in 2004, but I was taught in the art of print. I understand how the two of them are related, but I knew while I was taking the course that print was going to die. I wanted to drop out of the course but I was desperate for work so I kept going. I should have dropped out and took the course I'm just finishing now.

But now I'm realizing that web design jobs in Manitoba Canada are very hard to find and keep so I may have to suffer with a dead end job for a year and then move to a bigger city like Toronto or Vancouver.

It's hard being an interactive digital artist.

I worked as a proofreader/copyeditor for a publishing company after college and loved it. Unfortunately, shortly after I got into it, those jobs started getting outsourced oversees and there was no job security. It seems like now it's very difficult to find any full time jobs in that field. A lot of companies either send work oversees or employ freelancers, so they don't need to pay for health benefits.

I've been working in the nonprofit sector the last few years, but the level of job security there is not much better, due to the economy. I'd like to get into field where I can both have an opportunity to use my skills and have security and a decent wage, but it seems like if I make another career change, I'll have to pick either one or the other.

Grammar police at your service
I thought of going into that line but held to my aspie convictions that every such job advertised probably already had 30 people interviewing for it by the time I saw it.

Currently I supplement SSDI with a special interest I acquired, which is to say a typical aspie esoteric niche market. It has periodic revivals, lately it's been the hipsters that have taken to my interest/ extra income. Since I started hawking my services, some shops have come along and a few other privateers to capitalize on the hipsters, in the process steering them towards modifying their machines beyond what I am willing to do. The client base I do maintain that I like, and like me, are pretty dedicated but they are few and spread out so I can't count on steady work from them.
I don't know if I would go so far as to say my area is dying, people will always need things fixed, but it's been the opportunistic shops and tuner kids that are kind of ruining it for me, and indirectly led to a few stress MDs

Software development was outsourced a lot in the last ten years to overseas companies and I had to move into a slightly different role which I didn't enjoy as much.

It is getting ridiculous that jobs now have a shelf life of just a few years before they change into something else.

Well, there you go, though. For a number of years, I was able to fully support myself and do pretty well in that field, despite being human enough to make the typos you pointed out. So, yes, like any other field, it is competitive, but take a look at your competition.

The construction industry too a beating when the housing market colapsed. It seems kind of weird and scarry that somethig so vital has been in the tank for so long. It's why I think the economy is worse then "they" will tell us. I mean you could out source a building ship it to the US but, you'd still need someone to put it together here. Even if people aren't building new buildings, old buildings need to be remodeled (or T.I.) as new buisnesses move in and out. I mean I know it eventually has to come back but, lets do it already!

PS I think that a list of industries that aren't disappearing might be more helpful and a short list.

(rackin' frackin' bracket)

The tire business; my great-grandfather, grandfather and 2 of his sons worked with tires. My dad did a few years before his printing career, I put in a summer myself in high school. People won't be downloading those any time soon

I'll tell you who got really screwed with the whole technology thing. Typing teachers.

When I was in school they always had typing class in high school. Most kids took it at least one year. Nowdays kids can type like a secretary by second grade because of the internet.

I tried and tried in school and when I worked in an office, to learn to type without looking at my hands. I was never able to memorize where the keys were.

Then we got the internet and I discovered chatrooms. Within about a month I had picked it up so well that I didn't need to look at my hands anymore. It's so simple now, but back then it was so difficult.

I guess the typing teachers had to go back and learn to become computer teachers though.

I used to manage a successful little cd/dvd shop called 'Sounds' one day a lawyer showed up and informed me that they would be closing the store the following day because the company that owned the chain was in massive debt and going into 'voluntary administration' which is a kind of liquidation.. It was a 3 weeks before Christmas and my gf was 8 an a half months pregnant at the time. I was very good at my job and it was a tough blow.. I have seen all the other music shops close too over the last few years and because my managerial experience was in that area it is hard for me to land another managers job in retail despite my repeated efforts.

I continue enroll in degree programs and attend seminars and volunteer to keep up with my industries. I have a career field, but skills and experience in a second field as my backup. It's always good to have some sort of backup plan, whether it's skills to work retail, fast food, child care, lawn work, whatever. Volunteering and studying backup fields while working in your primary/desired field is a good method.

Fields do change fast. I suggest doing some sort of higher learning or self-study in your field at least once a year. Some fields that are either very dated or new and emerging have to be looked at more often. You don't want to stay in a field until it's decline and not have other options.

Remember secretaries who transcribed memos with typewriters? That happened as recently as the 1970s and early 1990s.

Or, remember Cobalt and VBScript? Yeah, that's not the top coding language in job sites these days.

I hear ya. The music industry has been hit hard everywhere.
I've been really concerned about this because I'm studying for a career in radio, and I realize that traditional FM/AM stations have been declining for a long time now.

Fortunately satellite and internet radio (i.e. Pandora, Slacker) are actually rising, plus I'm going to a college that specializes in media-based fields including radio. At least I have that going for me, even though most college courses that cover radio focus more on traditional formats than satellite or internet. It might be a risky career path, but it's the best way I can think of to put my passion for music to good use, and I believe having an unstable career in something you love is better than having a stable career in something you hate.

My mom was a professional portrait photographer and saw all the changes come through. At first it was annoying competing with amateur with their digital cameras, but combined with the recession the whole industry is imploding. So she retired and many of her professional friends are struggling.


As for myself I'm going to college to start over. I'm giving serious thought to leaving the country if I have to to start a new career. I'm studying for IT / Cyber Security.

I studied to be an office manager. Yes, I'm aspie. Then I decided to learn how to be a computer technician. Well, that is dying too. And there are far too many of them. So I taught myself iPhone repair. I was about to open up when my schizophrenia ramped up. There is simply no place for craftsmen in our society. Everything is disposable. Few want quality, all they've known is cheap junk, so that's what they demand, cheap junk.

I thought about going into auto mechanics, but it is a job best suited to the young. Cars have changed so drastically in the last twenty years that my skills would probably not let me fix anything made in the last ten. Add to that my back problems and it just wouldn't work.