10 Dirty Jobs That Nobody Wants
And then there are “dirty” jobs—high-stress, uncomfortable, dangerous, or just plain icky, that regardless of the recession, are difficult to fill. Here are 9 hideous jobs and how businesses are faring as they try to keep them filled.
Dairy farm hand
Head lice technician
High-rise window washerDiaper service worker: “It’s a very dirty job. It’s disgusting,” says Laura Gately, who, along with her husband, manages the Blessed Bums Organic Diaper Service in Santa Clarita, California. Environmental and cost concerns about disposables have driven up the number of cloth diaper cleaning services, according to Judy Aagard, a board member at the Real Diaper Industry Association. But despite the unpleasantness of the job, Aagard says the new companies find it easy to hire. At her company, the San Francisco-based Tiny Tots Diaper Service, it usually takes no more than a day to fill jobs. Average income: $8 to $10 an hour.
High-rise ironworker.Septic tank/sewer pipe servicer: Today’s vacuum tank trucks make suctioning hundreds of gallons of sewage a cleaner job than in the past. But when sewer lines clog, technicians have to cram into tight, unsanitary spaces, so the job calls for a strong stomach. Finding workers who can do all of that and still be nice to customers isn’t easy, says Richard Rosano, owner of R.W. Rosano Excavation and Septic Specialists near Boston. Hiring for his latest tank servicer position, at a starting wage of $17 an hour, took nine months. Average annual income: $35,000.
Oil and gas industry roustabout: Back-breaking work, tight spaces, high injury rates, and exposure to the elements—for a median wage of only $15 an hour—made this CareerCast’s worst job of 2011. In Pennsylvania’s fast-growing Marcellus shale region, 6- to 8-week roustabout training programs graduate several hundred people per year. According to industry spokesperson Travis Windle, 90 to 95 percent of the graduates get jobs—and that means the only ones who didn’t fail their drug tests. Average annual income: $32,000.
Meter reader: They’re among the most despised of government workers, and because of technology, the government forecasts there will be 20 percent fewer of them in 2018 than in 2008. Those are just a few of the reasons CareerCast rated meter reading as the ninth-worst occupation of 2011. But the applicants keep coming anyway. Maggie Dominguez from the placement firm Select Staffing in Sun City, California, says about 40 people apply for every meter reading opening—which normally pay about $10 an hour.
Slaughterhouse divePest control and removal specialisthttp://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/08/25/10-Dirty-Jobs-That-Nobody-Wants.aspx#page1