Stats say to kiss these high-paying jobs good-bye

By Dian Vujovich

I remember my dad harping at me to get a job with good benefits. Of course, that was decades ago when things like good pensions handsomely rewarded vested employees, medical coverage didn’t cost workers a dime and people could stay in their chosen professions for, well, ever.

Unfortunately, during these depressing recessionary times that’s not the case. So I’m thinking that the best advice to give today’s college grads, or the unemployed, who are looking for financially rewarding positions is to think “versatility” and “adapatabilty”— just as their working moms and dads need to do.

Selecting the right profession for the times has always been dicey. Becoming a doctor or lawyer doesn’t necessary guarantee the big bucks it once did, sales jobs can pay off if you’re good at it but teaching has never provided 6-figure incomes to those in this important profession.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published its Occupational Outlook Handbook 20010-2001. Last month, CBS’s MoneyWatch came up with a list of 10 career positions not likely to pay off as they once did going forward.

Included in the list were everything from judges to fashion designers, insurance underwriters, travel agents, scientists and newspaper reporters. But my favorite could-be-fewer-of-in-the-future career is that of economist.

Economists. I’ve always thought weather people and economists were a lot alike. Neither group is even close to 100 percent correct in their predictions. For for that matter, even 60 or 80 percent correct. Worse yet, it doesn’t seem to matter because no one ever seems to question their accountability after their incorrect forecasts have missed the mark.

How about that for an authoritative position that people rely on? Absolutely amazing.

In case you didn’t know, Uncle Sam is the largest employer of economists in the country, according to the DLS. The government employs about 53 percent of those in the field.

Hum, given the current economic conditions in our nation, something doesn’t add up here.

Read more about careers that could go kaput at http://tinyurl.com/2e3u4zc