Highly Demanding Jobs for Little Pay

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American employee logs in a little over 2,000 hours per year with an annual salary of $37,000. However, some jobs require long shifts or night/weekend work that can quickly add up to hundreds of extra hours per year, yet pay the same or at times less than most other jobs do.

So which jobs require the longest hours for the worst salary? The Bureau of Labor Statistics breaks down jobs into 800 different categories. Of those, 48 jobs make employees work at least 2100 hours a year, which is approximately 100 hours greater than the national average. These jobs paid more than $80,000 a year.

For only 7 positions, employees must work at least 2,100 hours a year, yet receive the same pay as the national average or even less. These jobs do not pay well because they usually only require education at the high school level. Such jobs include parts salesmen and tractor trailer drivers who can get a job right out of high school with no advanced degree. There are other jobs that require certification but still no college degree such as EMTs and paramedics. These jobs are in industries that do not conform to regular working hours and thus they have long shifts and odd schedules. Often workers must be on-call or be paid in irregular ways, such as truck drivers who are paid by the mile rather than by the hour.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies the average number of hours worked yearly by every major employment position in the United States in its National Compensation Data report. Based on this report, following are the top 3 jobs that require the most work for the least pay.

Front-line Supervisors:
These people directly oversee the work of the salespeople. As such, they work longer hours than the salespeople because they must oversee multiple shifts throughout their day. Also, most retail stores are open on the weekends and holidays, thus further extending the number of shifts that must be supervised. Even so, these managers and supervisors are working in the retail industry which is typically a low paying field.

Parts Salespeople:
Most parts salespeople work in the automotive industry. These jobs frequently involve long hours and night/weekend shift work. Again, these workers are in a typically low paying field.

Paramedics:
In addition to being in a physically and emotionally demanding job, EMTs and paramedics work approximately 180 hours more each year than the average person. Emergency services are usually in operation 24 hours a day, so often workers will need to be on-call. EMTs often work 12-hour shifts in addition to their on-call schedule. Despite working long shifts and odd schedules, these workers typically earn $7000 less per year than the national median salary.