Australia's disappearing jobs

RUBBISH collectors, secretaries and switchboard operators are among the jobs that are disappearing in Australia - fast.

A comparison of Census data between 2006 and 2011 shows there are occupations where the number of people employed across the country has dropped by up to 66 per cent in five years, despite the fact the overall number of people counted has risen 10 per cent.

Occupations that registered the biggest drops include corporate services managers, photographic developers and safety inspectors.

John Spoehr, executive director of the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre, said mechanisation was playing a role in the decline in many of the jobs listed, for example sorters replacing rubbish and recycling collectors and other machines taking the place of switchboard operators.

Prof Spoehr said the major drop in corporate services managers - from 21,804 in 2006 to 7365 in 2011 - would have been caused by the global financial crisis but that the high scale of job losses was "surprising".

Jonathan McIlroy, joint managing director of the Executive Assistant Network, said the decline in the number of secretaries - from 94,404 in 2006 to 64,169 in 2011- could be attributed to offshoring and the redefining of job titles.

"The term 'secretary' is demeaning; the connotation is that they're someone who is purely there to do typing and low-level clerical work," Mr McIlroy said.

"It's a hang up from an era that just no longer exists. Now instead you've got receptionist, team assistant, junior assistant, admin assistant."

AUSTRALIA'S DISAPPEARING JOBS

Corporate services managers 

2006 - 21,804

2011 - 7365

Recycling and rubbish collectors 

2006 - 3889

2011 - 2133

Safety Inspectors 

2006 - 5845

2011 - 3365

Photographic Developers and Printers 

2006 - 3285

2011 - 1945

Switchboard Operators 

2006 - 6301

2011 - 3835

Textile and Footwear Production Machine Operators 

2006 - 5073

2011 - 3229

Graphic Pre-press Trades Workers 

2006 - 5052

2011 - 3248

Secretaries 

2006 - 94,404

2011 - 64,169

Metal Engineering Process Workers 

2006 - 14,927

2011 - 10,440

Timber and Wood Process Workers 

2006 - 8166

2011 - 5768

Boat builders and shipwrights 

2006 - 4974

2011 - 3624

Printing Assistants and Table Workers 

2006 - 5967

2011 - 4357

Forestry and logging workers

2006 - 3379

2011 - 2529

Nursery persons 

2006 - 4907

2011 3672

Product Assemblers 

2006 - 32,670

2011 - 24,887

Shearers 

2006 - 4173

2011 - 3203

Toolmakers and Engineering Patternmakers 

2006 - 7348

2011 - 5672

Canvas and leather goods makers 

2006 - 3304

2011 - 2550

Crop Farm Workers 

2006 - 25,541

2011 - 19,855

Meat Boners and Slicers, and Slaughterers 

2006 - 9524

2011 - 7584

Printers 

2006 - 15,315

2011 - 12,498

Debt Collectors 

2006 - 10,144

2011 - 8487

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmers 

2006 - 41,347

2011 - 34,724

Financial dealers 

2006 - 18,005

2011 - 15,168

Judicial and Other Legal Professionals 

2006 - 9192

2011 - 8032

Paper and Wood Processing Machine Operators 

2006 - 7581

2011 - 6694

Auctioneers, and stock and station agents 

2006 - 3021

2011 - 2709