These Are the Industries and Professions That Are Struggling More Than You Think

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jul 28, 2026 7:45 PM EDT

Most business ideas are not going to make a profit forever.

I mean, the birth of industry as we know it is only a couple of hundred years old, and depending on who you listen to, that is reaching a point of no return in general. That also doesn't change the fact that starting a business of any kind, no matter how humble, comes with a large amount of risk. It may seem like the need for a particular item or service could never go away, but that couldn't be further from the truth; times move on, and so do customers.

Have you ever heard of a knocker-upper? They were the people who used to wake people up on time for work in Victorian Britain by knocking on their windows. They got phased out by the invention of the alarm clock. Typists used to be in every 20th-century office before the personal computer became mainstream. And let us not forget the Blockbuster-logo-shaped hole that was left on the front of retail units nationwide when people stopped having to return some video tapes. Just because it is possible to make a living with an idea for a while doesn't mean that it will carry on that way.

 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement

  • Only hindsight can reveal every single business and profession that either becomes obsolete or falls out of fashion. However, for those who pay attention, it isn't too difficult to see the industries that are likely to struggle in the current times and in the near future. It is even the kind of thing that people can make a career out of (for the time being). 

    It is weird to think that thousands or even millions of people may currently be in jobs that will be looked upon as a quirk of the time period in just another generation or two. One of the many things that unites the human experience is that we see the endings of things that once seemed like they would stick around forever, no matter if they were a once-essential service or something that was actually kind of dumb. In this post, Redditors pondered the industries that we might say goodbye to in the near future.

  • A red tarp sign attached to a building that says “closing down, everything must go”
    via the blowup

    A red tarp sign attached to a building that says "closing down, everything must go"

  • What industry is secretly on the verge of collapsing, but people outside of it haven’t noticed yet?

    ChaLenCe call centers in Asia are getting wiped out by Ai
    via Funny-Counter8762
  • Vegetable Pirate_702 The quinoa market is about to collapse I have it on very good. authority that the global supply chain shocks are going to hit it very hard in the next quarter. Bankruptcy and farms being sold is in the future although massive profits for distribution networks.
    via Vegetable_Pirate_702
  • nogzila New and Used car parts are taking a major hit. Fram has filed bankruptcy. Grupo Antolin has went out of business. First brand group is filing bankruptcy. O reilys is buying out Napa CSK which made remanufactured parts also filed bankruptcy.
    via nogzila
  • Just this year all of this happened and was only brought to my attention when I went to autozone and asked do you guys sell frames oil filters anymore ? And they said yes if we can get any because they are going out of business, which Fram was always top of the market so really drew my interest.
    via nogzila
  • theassassintherapist Translation and interpretation services
    via theassassintherapist
  • oblectoergosum Magicians
    via oblectoergosum
  • Significant-Use-1596 Community Pharmacy. The reimbursements on prescriptions is horrible due to the PBMs. Pharmacies often lose money on prescriptions. See.. Rite Aid.
    via Significant-Use-1596
  • EffectSubject2676 Irrigation agriculture and beef feedlots over the Ogallala Aquifer. It is rapidly being depleted and those areas will be in a deep economic decline. Also, the Ogallal areas produce like 25% of USA's grain and beef.
    via EffectSubject2676
  • Advisor Total404 the newspaper industry is hanging on by a thread, so many are going digital only and struggling to monetize it
    via AdvisorTotal404
  • rolan56789 Universities as we know them. Major public and top private schools are hurting, but a lot of regional school are outright failing. The major publics are often surviving in part due to major expansion of online programs. However, the value of these degrees is unclear (e.g. even
    via rolan56789
  • if you take them seriously, your classmates using Al to get through dilute the signal of the degree). If these programs bomb out, think lots of places will be completely screwed. I expect to see more closures of regional schools in coming years, and reductions or eliminations of entire departments at the big schools.
    via rolan56789
  • ploood1456 The Arts and Culture sector are d_ng from a philanthropic standpoint. Most people have shifted their giving away to more "urgent" causes. Corporate funding moved away in 2008 and never returned. These orgs haven't figured out / can't fill the
    via ploood1456
  • gap with earned income. For example, look at the lack of original/new shows on broadway (which are often workshopped by non profit theaters, ie rent at NYTW or Hamilton at the a public). I swear I hear about an opera company or Museum shuttering every week
    via ploood1456
  • monstercoo Maybe it's not a secret, but the gaming industry is collapsing. The market is oversaturated. There's too much supply for the demand.
    via monstercoo
  • Al slop, thousands of indie games, and other distractions like netflix and social media has made the industry too risky. The result is that game studios cannot predictably release a successful game and get investments. With all these studios failing, game developers cannot find reliable employment and are being forced out of the industry.
    via monstercoo
  • deathleech The housing industry. We are seeing sales at all time lows not seen in 30 years. We have lower sales now than we did in 1990, but there 80 million more people in the US today (260 vs 342). Rates that have over doubled in the last five years along with soaring housing prices have all
    via deathleech
  • contributed to this, as well as inflation and costs in general. No one can afford a home and anyone with a home refuses to sell for less than top dollar since they don't want to lose their sweet sub 3% rate.
    via deathleech
  • FairyPetalDust Fast Fashion. Shein and Temu are eating everyone's lunch but the mid-tiers brands (Gap, Express, etc) are bl ding cash. One more supply chain hiccup and half the mall goes dark.
    via FairyPetalDust

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

money problems company Industry News business
Scroll Down For The Next Article