These 5 jobs are vanishing silently, warns WEF report: Is yours next?

The global workplace is going through a quiet but powerful transformation. Jobs that once gave people stability, routine and identity are slowly disappearing. There are no dramatic headlines or sudden announcements, just silent shifts in hiring patterns, office structures, and industry priorities.According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, several job roles that were once considered essential are gradually losing relevance. These are not seasonal changes or momentary trends, the shift is deeper. It is being driven by technology, automation, and the need for faster, more efficient systems.The WEF projects that while 170 million new roles will be created by 2030, around 92 million existing jobs will be displaced but the growth will not be felt equally across all sectors.

Some roles are adapting and evolving, others are being left behind.For many workers, this means rethinking what job security really looks like and for industries, it means letting go of roles that no longer fit how the world works.These five roles are being quietly phased out as automation and AI reshape the skills the modern workforce demands.

Postal service clerks

This role is among the fastest-declining globally, according to the WEF Jobs report 2025.

The decline of traditional postal services is not sudden. It has been a slow phase-out, driven by the rise of digital communication, online billing, and e-governance. What remains is a residual need for parcel handling but even that is being absorbed by private logistics firms.Postal clerks, once essential to public service networks, are now being viewed as surplus in many systems. Countries with high digital penetration are reducing physical counters and job growth in this area has stagnated.According to WEF data, the net decline in postal clerk jobs by 2030 is projected around 26%, placing this role among the top five shrinking professions worldwide.Hiring for such positions is not expected to recover and the forecast is clear: demand will continue to fall steadily through 2030.

Bank tellers and related clerks

Digital banking has made several branch-based roles redundant. Bank tellers, previously the human face of financial institutions, are increasingly being replaced by mobile applications, automated kiosks, and AI-enabled customer service platforms.The WEF Jobs Report lists bank tellers among the roles projected to decline significantly by 2030. As more consumers shift to online banking, financial institutions are responding with leaner branch operations and reduced reliance on manual processes.Bank teller roles are projected to see a net employment decline of around 20% by 2030, based on the WEF report.While the banking sector itself continues to evolve, the requirement for human-led in-branch operations is dropping.

Automation is now the default for most day-to-day banking activities.

Data entry clerks

This is a role facing near-total automation in many industries. With advanced tools now able to scan, extract, and input data automatically, data entry has become one of the first functions to be delegated to machines. Emerging technologies and AI-driven forms are now widely deployed.The WEF report places data entry clerks firmly on the list of declining roles, noting that there is little need to manually process information at scale.

This role is projected to shrink around 24% globally, making it one of the most severely impacted by automation.Few industries still rely on manual entry, and even in those that do, cost efficiency is pushing them toward digital alternatives.

Cashiers and ticket clerks

Self-checkout machines, online ticketing systems, and contactless payment technologies are significantly reducing the demand for human-operated counters. The WEF report identifies cashier and ticket clerk roles as part of a shrinking category.

In both retail and transportation sectors, the move toward automation is visible in daily operations. Airports, movie theatres, supermarkets and public transit systems are investing in systems that minimise the need for human intervention.According to the WEF Jobs Report 2025, the projected net employment loss for cashiers and ticket clerks is approximately 13% by 2030, driven by both cost-cutting and evolving consumer expectations for faster, frictionless service.Efficiency, speed, and cost reduction are driving this shift. For many, the customer experience now depends more on technology than on human service agents. As this trend continues, employment in this category is projected to fall further by the end of the decade.

Administrative assistants and executive secretaries

This is one of the most quietly disappearing roles in modern offices. Tasks that once required human coordination like scheduling, minute-taking, calendar management, correspondence, are now handled by digital tools.

Platforms like Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace and specialised project management tools have reduced the operational need for full-time administrative staff.The WEF report forecasts a decline of around 13% in administrative roles globally by 2030, what used to be a standalone job function is now embedded into workflow automation software or redistributed across leaner teams.Executive support roles are no longer expanding.

Instead, they are being compressed, reassigned, or dissolved entirely.

The shifting landscape of employment

The WEF’s job projections are not speculative, they are based on employer feedback and market observation across sectors. These five roles are not the only ones changing but they represent a clear signal that the global workforce is being reshaped in quiet but irreversible ways.What makes this transformation different is that it isn’t being driven by layoffs or economic crises, it is the result of operational shifts and evolving digital infrastructure.

In sectors like telecommunications, insurance and electronics manufacturing, more than 95% of task reduction is being attributed to machine automation alone.The concept of a “stable job” is no longer tied to routine roles. As technology takes over predictable tasks, the market is placing higher value on adaptability, tech fluency, and cross-functional capabilities.Across all five roles, the common thread is automation. These jobs depend on repetitive, routine tasks, exactly the kind that machines now perform more quickly and without error. These roles identified by the World Economic Forum are slowly but decisively exiting the employmentecosystem. As companies embrace leaner, more tech-enabled operations, certain jobs will no longer be necessary, not because they failed but because the world outgrew them.

The change is quiet but the impact will not be.