Top 10 Worst Jobs During the Pandemic

We did a survey of over 3,000 readers on August 12, 2020 to answer a simple question: do you regret your career choice because of what's happened during the pandemic?

Overall, we found these results:

• 14% said they wished they had chosen a different career because of the pandemic
• 86% said they were happy with their career decision, despite the pandemic

I'm glad to see most of respondents of the 389 careers we examined are not letting the pandemic discourage them. Our survey is representative of high debt professionals, the majority of which had graduate degrees.

To appear in this list of the top 10 jobs with the most career regret because of the pandemic, we also had to have gotten at least 30 responses in that career category.

We did a survey of over 3,000 readers in April as well where we asked about readers' incomes across dozens of professions. I've added the percent of each profession that reported a drop in income during the worst part of the pandemic economically back in April when much of the country was shut down.

You'll notice that while income losses certainly have some impact on people reporting career regret because of the pandemic, its not the determining factor.

Exposure to COVID is also not the primary determinant of regretting your career choice due to the pandemic. Few physicians reported regret choosing their career when compared to corporate workers, who reported significant regret despite limited exposure to the virus.

We've also added a couple of reader comments for each profession to give context to these stats.

Here's our list of the top 10 jobs for career regret during the pandemic.

10. Higher Education Administrator

Percent of higher education administrators who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 15%

Percent of higher education administrators who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 25%

Higher education administration has been a fairly stable profession for the past several decades. With colleges and universities dramatically expanding their tuition and revenues, higher education has been a growth story for a long time.

Unfortunately, not only did a previously stable career face economic challenges, but the decisions that a higher ed administrator must make during the pandemic pose a huge amount of stress.

I work in international education, which is suffering due to covid and is likely to continue to suffer.

With the current world, I am not sure what the future holds for higher education.

9. Dental Specialist

Percent of dental specialists who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 16%

Percent of dental specialists who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 78%

By dental specialist, we mean orthodontists, periodontists, endodontists, oral surgeons, etc.

This group faced a severe income loss during the pandemic, with almost 4 out of every 5 dental specialists losing a significant amount of income during the shut downs.

Some dental specialists such as endodontists and oral surgeons were able to keep the lights on doing emergency procedures, but revenues fell anyway.

Dental specialists with their own practices must pay practice loans and deal with significant overhead expenses. Without revenue, many turned to PPP loans and had to negotiate with banks to defer payments that were due.

That's on top of the high exposure to COVID that dental specialists risked.

It's a rewarding profession but the business side of it is a lot more stressful than i anticipated

I'm burned out. COVID helped accelerate my exit from the field

8. Corporate Employees

Percent of corporate employees who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 16%

Percent of corporate employees who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 26%

Some corporate employees got to do their jobs remotely, but not all workers had this opportunity. Particularly for workers in corporate positions that focus on in person delivery or products or services, COVID has been brutal.

A significant number of corporate employees in the survey who regretted their career decision said so because of not having access to remote work opportunities. I expect that trend will continue post pandemic.

I’m now in event marketing and COVID has ruined our entire industry. I’ve taken a 30% paycut as the breadwinner of my household, have taken on three times the work from before since resources have been cut, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. I don’t even feel comfortable going back to school because taking on more student loans could ruin us.

I work in the hospitality industry, which is gutted since March. The majority of the workers were placed on furlough beginning in April, and we are still on furlough now…. and should find out by the end of this month if we are now officially laid off. So it’s more than safe to say that COVID has had an incredible impact on this industry, and god forbid there’s another pandemic in the future…. My degree is also in hospitality which I’ve regretted for a long time, as you don’t need a degree so specific for this industry; so it feels not only like a waste of time and money, but also like I pigeonholed myself into something so specific and apparently volatile.

7. Non-Profit Employees

Percent of non-profit employees who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 16%

Percent of non-profit employees who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 24%

Non-profit professionals felt the economic impact of a loss in donations during the worst of the pandemic recession.

They also felt the full weight of a drastic expansion in need. One example of that need was the long lines we saw at food banks.

I work in the social services industry. The wages in this industry are remarkably low, and my student debt to income ratio is quite high, even with just a Bachelor's degree. Also, my job is reliant on face-to-face interactions with clients which puts me at risk of contracting COVID-19

I tried hard to find another non-profit job, but they are just not hiring right now. I will probably lose my PSLF status.

6. Physical Therapist

Percent of physical therapists who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 17%

Percent of physical therapists who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 47%

Physical therapists could not practice in many parts of the country during the shut downs. Additionally, PTs needed to wear PPE and be cautious with potential exposure to the virus.

Patient visits are returning to normal after facing a steep decline in spring, but there's still a long way to go.

Physical therapy doesn’t lend itself to working in a socially distanced environment compared to other professions

The way COVID-19 has affected the way we operate in the clinic has been challenging.

5. Nurse

Percent of nurses who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 18%

Percent of nurses who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 36%

I'm surprised more nurses didn't report regret in choosing their career with everything we asked them to do.

The reality is there are millions of nurses in the US, and these nurses have a great diversity of job functions.

Some were involved in extremely stressful front line patient care and felt the burden of that. Others faced economic insecurity during the pandemic, which created career regret.

Many nurses in elective fields got let go so hospitals could use stimulus money to replace their incomes. While some of these nurses have been called back, the shock of losing a job that's supposed to be famous for its stability rattled a lot of people.

That's on top of nurses feeling underappreciated in general during this awful public health crisis.

It’s a frightening experience not having adequate PPEs to protect myself & other healthcare workers. My job became a more stressful environment that has taken a toll on me physically, mentally and emotionally. I’m also scared of exposing my family.

I’ve never been so stressed out and felt so under appreciated for what I do, even though it’s a job that requires complete compassion, exhausting time management, and right now it’s even life risking. Yet doctors treat me like a garbage slave every day and patients tell me to go hell or spit in my face if I’m genuinely too busy to help them with something. Even though I haven’t eaten or peed in 10 hours sometimes because I’m so busy.

4. Dentist

Percent of dentists who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 18%

Percent of dentists who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 81%

In the movie First Man about the life of Neil Armstrong, one of the astronaut's wives says that her sorority sister chose to marry a man with the most stable, predictable job of all, a dentist.

That aura of stability was shattered in the pandemic. A majority of dentists lost their incomes completely during the worst of the shut downs.

On top of that, the NY Times reported that dentists have among the highest exposures to viruses of any profession because of the aerosols their procedures generate.

It's quite remarkable that only 1 in 5 dentists reported career regret due to the trauma they experienced in the pandemic.

If my career was one that I could work from home then I wouldn’t have lost 2 months of income and wouldn’t have to convince people that it’s actually okay to see your dentist during all of this.

Dentistry is such a risky profession. Even before the pandemic hit, I feel like dentists are always seen in a bad light, like we are out to get patient's money all the time. I worked in a non-profit but still patients still question our diagnosis and our ability to help them. With the risk of litigation compounded with the Covid risk, I think about what the future holds for our profession.

3. Chiropractor

Percent of chiropractors who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 20%

Percent of chiropractors who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 73%

A majority of chiropractors report regret with their career choice due student loans. 1 in 5 report regret directly because of the pandemic.

Chiropractors stood out in our earlier surveys for being able to stay open in many states during the shut downs because of loopholes that deemed some of them “essential businesses.”

I wonder from seeing these stats though if that was because of economic necessity.

It's tough out there and the cities or states that are keeping things locked down make it just that much worse

Less options/flexibility with huge student loan debt. When your career field doesn’t continue to feel like a choice, it’s hard to continue liking it regardless of how good your job is.

2. Occupational Therapist

Percent of occupational therapists who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 26%

Percent of occupational therapists who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 51%

A majority of occupational therapists experienced income loss during the pandemic. However, their high ranking on this list is likely also tied to their exposure to COVID and the risk they could pose to their patients if they contracted it.

Occupational therapists often treat very vulnerable patient populations such as seniors in nursing homes and the disabled.

We know COVID is especially dangerous to these populations, and occupational therapists also had a high risk of being personally exposed, which could lead them to transmit the virus to others they served.

Hence, OTs had to worry about their own financial security and the health of themselves and their patients all at once.

Wish I would have chosen a profession that I could do remotely, more easily….

Working in healthcare is getting worse and more stressful and there are few companies that really care about its employees. I would pick a career not in health care if I had understood the reality and high rates of burnout.

1. Teacher

Percent of teachers who regret choosing their career because of the pandemic: 26%

Percent of teachers who experienced an income loss during the economic trough of the pandemic in April: 24%

I'm not surprised teachers topped our list of professions with the most career choice regret due to the pandemic.

From hectic online instruction to uncertainty around being asked to teach in person, being a teacher in 2020 has been extremely challenging.

When corona hit in March and we were forced to go online, teachers were praised for their efforts. Now, we are considered “lazy” for trying to be cautious and protect ourselves and our families for not wanting to go back to school. A lot of teachers, myself included, are expected to teach face-to-face while simultaneously maintaining virtual courses for students in quarantine. We are mentally and physically and emotionally drained due to corona.

I've become very jaded to and disenchanted by the attitudes in this country toward teachers. It feels like there are incredibly, absurdly high expectations (especially apparent during this current crisis) with none of the respect that should come along with it.

A Trait These Professions Share: Massive Stress Caused by Uncertainty

Why didn't pulmonologists report the highest degree of career regret in our survey?

If you know the stress and awful experiences you're about to endure, you can handle that stress better.

If you're a teacher, you've got no idea what fall is going to look like. A higher ed administrator must come up with plans that could themselves be tossed out a window at a moment's notice.

Dentists and nurses thought their jobs provided the ultimate job security only to discover that security was a myth.

I think the unifying factor in jobs showing up on this list is stress from the unknown.

If you're struggling, you're not alone. Seek out mental health counseling. If you are having a tough time because of your student loans, consider getting a plan from a professional team like ours.

What do you think about this list? Have you experienced regret for choosing your career because of the pandemic? Comment below.