Report cites automation and offshoring as reasons for the decline.
In an article posted on Yahoo Finance, "Disappearing Jobs: High-Paying Careers With No Future," author Louise Tutelian singles out plant management as a dying career. Employing stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011, she includes judges, broadcasters, fashion designers, insurance underwriters, newspaper reporters, and travel agents as well.
Of production managers, specifically, she writes, "Automation and offshoring will decimate the ranks of production managers by 2018. According to the BLS, employment will drop by 11,900 jobs from a 2008 total of 156,100. With faster machines and better productivity, one plant can do the work of two, squeezing managers out. Increased imports of manufactured goods will do additional damage. With 50% of the textile industry moving offshore, for example, half the plant managers in that sector are at risk of losing their jobs. The outlook is equally bleak for managers in the computer, electronics, and auto parts industries."
Plant managers can take a little consolation, your boss --the CEO--is also on the endangered species list!
—Jim Chrzan, Publisher
