This job is the fastest-declining occupation in WA and the US, according to report

“Technology is coming for our jobs.”

You might have heard a statement along those lines over the years, especially as computers, automated machinery, personal handheld devices and movie special effects have transformed industries and how people consume media. A new analysis suggests that statement isn’t far off.

Real-estate platform and online service tool CommercialCafe reports that photographic process worker and processing machine operator positions have decreased by 90% in Washington from 2012 to 2021, signaling a shift away from occupations relating to hand-produced media and entertainment. The position, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lumps into a single occupation, is also the fastest-declining job nationwide, leading a group of jobs that are similarly disappearing possibly due to an increase in technology advancement and automation.

For comparison, the Evergreen State employed 1,030 workers in photography roles in 2012, according to the report. The number shrunk to just 100 workers in 2021.

To find the fastest-declining job nationwide and by state, CommercialCafe viewed statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2012 to 2021. The site analyzed which jobs decreased the most by looking at the job categories that experienced the steepest drops in percentage over the 10-year period.

Job declines

CommercialCafe attributed rapid technological advancement and cultural shifts toward digital technology as primary catalysts for the decrease in certain occupations like photo process workers. The site also suggested trends such as a reduction in print-produced media, an increase in mobile devices with cameras, and higher accessibility for image-processing methods as other factors contributing to some jobs plummeting into obscurity.

“While it’s easy (and somewhat reasonable) to point the finger at automation, the drop in job numbers for this profession could be the result of a combination of multiple converging trends,” CommercialCafe wrote.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics defines a photographic process worker and processing machine operator as someone who develops and processes photographic images from film or digital media, as well as editing photo negatives and prints. Digital cameras became more widely available to consumers during the 1990s, according to a timeline from the New York Public Library.

Photographic process worker and processing machine operator jobs have decreased exponentially in other states, too. It was the fastest-declining job in Arizona, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The occupation shrunk the most in Virginia, where it fell from 2,640 workers to just 110 workers, amounting to a 96% decrease.

Aside from processing jobs, other occupations such as motion picture projectionist, extraction worker helper, and wood model maker and pattern-maker positions have seen sharp declines nationwide.