15 Least Respected Jobs and Most Untrustworthy Professions in the World

It is quite natural if you ever sat in your office on a slow work day and wondered if what you do for a living is one of the least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world.

It might sure seem that way sometimes, so we decided to compile a list of the most despised and distrusted professions in the world to settle the debate. Instead, if you have a feeling that what you do for a living is actually one of the more respected professions, why not check out our list of the most respected jobs in America in 2017 and know for sure?

You’d be forgiven for thinking that divisive professions such as police officers or clergymen are the primary groups thought of as being dishonest and unworthy of respect. For example, Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African American, was killed after being put in an illegal chokehold by a police officer of Caucasian ethnicity for the venial crime of selling loose cigarettes. There is an extremely hard to watch the video of Garner lying on the ground and saying “I can’t breathe” over 10 times while being held to the ground by police officers. This was the spark that ignited protests across America and the phrase “I Can’t Breathe” was adopted as a symbol of the oppression that minorities face at the hands of police officers. Similarly, the extensive coverage of the child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church tarnished the reputation of many clergymen. But you must remember that even though some communities might hold bitter resentment against these groups, there are still some people who vehemently support the clergymen and police officers as being an important pillar of our society. Continue reading to finding out what ranking do these two contentious professions get.

For our list of the least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world, we looked at Gallup’s poll of Honesty and Ethics in Professions which they have been conducting since around 1976. Just out of curiosity, we overlapped the lists of least respected professions 2015 and 2016 only to realize that not much has changed throughout years. So, we thoroughly examined the latest version of the poll which was conducted in December 2016, in which they asked survey respondents to rate the perceived level of morals and probity associated with various professions in different fields according to rankings of very high, high, average, low or very low. The responses were then divided accordingly into these 5 categories. We filtered the list by taking the sum of the percentages of respondents who ranked each profession either low or very low in terms of trustworthiness. Similar professional categories such as members of Congress and senators have been grouped together in a single heading under politician for the sake of clarity. We also looked at people’s perception in the United Kingdom to get a more global perspective on the question of what is the least trusted profession in the world. Speaking of Britain, for the most trusted professions UK citizens chose judges, teachers, and doctors among the others. And now, let’s see our list of least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world.

15. Real Estate Agents

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: NA

Real estate agents are one of the most hated jobs around the world. It is just something about real estate agents which makes them hard to trust. As we go along the list of least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world, notice how many professions end up on this list which involves salespeople of various kinds.

14. Mechanics

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: NA

Next up on our list of the least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world are mechanics. Mechanics are widely distrusted and thought of as being unscrupulous and unprincipled people who will never let go of an opportunity to over-charge you for a simple job. One bad experience with a dodgy mechanic is enough to color your opinion and make you lose all respect for this group of professionals.

11. Clergy

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 13%

Apart from the growing skepticism towards religion in general which has reduced general affinity towards organized religion, the reports of child abuse scandals within the Church and the subsequent attempt to cover up the offenses has sparked public outrage and eroded trust that the people used to have within religious institutions. The much-lauded Hollywood movie, Spotlight, tells the true story of how a group of journalists in Boston uncovered a grand scheme to protect clergymen who were engaged in illicit and unspeakable activities with young children. Sinead O’Connor’s defiant and iconoclastic act of ripping apart a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live to protest against the child abuse scandals within the Catholic Church is still vivid in many people’s memory.

11. Chiropractors

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 13%

Many people think chiropractors are frauds and quacks who offer non-scientific and ineffective cures under the guise of alternative medicine. As the world has progressed, we have become increasingly wary of medicine which is not scientifically approved, and it is no wonder chiropractors are viewed as hacks in the public’s consciousness. Even in today’s day and age almost 40% of people still believe in the healing powers of chiropractors.

11. Police Officers

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 13%

The police have never really had a positive rapport with all sections of the larger community, and the stereotype of the crooked cop has been a frequent trope in popular culture. But recently, the growing distrust of the police may be attributed to the fact that many people accuse the police of using unnecessary brute force especially against racial minorities which have resulted in many gruesome incidents.

10. College Teachers

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 18%

A somewhat surprising inclusion in our list, next up on our list of least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world are college teachers ranked by around 18 % as being not worthy of moral scruples. Perhaps a bad experience with a grouchy teacher is what is responsible for the low opinion of college teachers in some people, but overall college teachers are viewed as respectable by almost 50% of people in the Gallup survey.

9. Bankers

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 30%

On the other hand, no one is surprised that Bankers make this list of least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world. In fact, some would argue the number should be higher. Their low rating on ethics may in part be due to the perception that bankers lure people with seemingly attractive loan options and then cripple them with predatory interest rates.

8. Business Executives

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 32%

One of the most hated jobs surely has to be that of business executives. With so many big business scandals making the news on an almost periodic basis, who would ever think of trusting business executives anyway? The infamous Exxon scandal is still remembered to this day, in which a company that was heralded as being America’s most innovative company for six consecutive years by Fortune Magazine was disclosed as having cooked their books. The corruption was traced all the way to the top to the Chief Executive Officer.

7. Lawyers

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 37%

It seems every person at some point in their life has had an ugly run-in with a lawyer. Doctors are afraid they’ll get sued for malpractice. Corporations are afraid they’ll get served with a notice for violating public regulations. Married couples fear the day they will have to turn to a divorce attorney. While there are surely some people who uphold moral values in this profession, lawyers have some pretty negative associations in our society.

6. Insurance Salespeople

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 38%

For this entry on our list of least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world, we have grouped together insurance salespeople with health maintenance organization managers who act as the liaison between citizens and hospitals in America in exchange for a yearly fee. These managers have a negative reputation because people often see them as not being accommodating enough. They also hold these managers partly responsible when their physician is not properly suited to provide the required care as the managers are supposed to allocate these doctors. In general, the insurance industry is considered a sneaky and dishonest profession because people think of insurance salespeople as people who try to take advantage of a person’s worst fears.

5. Stockbrokers

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 39%

The popular movie, ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ only helped to further cement the image of stockbrokers as being an unscrupulous lot who do not spare a thought before scamming good honest people out of their hard-earned cash. As if the scandal involving former stockbroker Bernie Madoff was not enough to sway public opinion against this much-maligned profession.

4. Advertising Practitioners

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 40%

Much like the car salespeople, the advertising industry is also replete with stereotypes of cold, calculating ad men, who are hypocritical and only wish to sell whatever product they’re advertising without any regard for whether the product is safe or not.

3. Journalists

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 41%

When the president of the most powerful country in the world accuses large and formerly respected media institutions as being ‘Fake News!’, the general public’s opinion of journalists is bound to go down the drain as well, making journalists one of the least trusted professions in 2017.

2. Car Salespeople

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 46%

The age-old stereotype of the glib and greasy-haired car salesman who will shake your hand and rob you blind still holds strong as ever in today’s day and age and reaffirms that the fact the average man has a curious distrust and little respect for any professional who is involved in selling you something. Perhaps the fear of being duped makes us overly skeptical of these professionals?

1. Politicians

% of people who ranked them low on honesty and ethics: 59%

For this entry on our list of least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world, we combined together members of Congress, senators and state governors under one umbrella. If you’re keeping score, it is the members of Congress that are the most reviled profession. The Gallup poll determined that the people’s own elected representatives, i.e., the members of Congress were the most distrusted people out of the lot. This paradox means that people have little respect for the public officials that they themselves had helped to elect to the office with almost 60% of people deeming them to be a dishonest group of people, effectively making them the least respected professions in America.

This rounds up our list of the least respected jobs and most untrustworthy professions in the world. Let us know if we missed out any profession! Even if your job made it on the list, rest assured that this is just the result of a public survey, and good people exist in every different field. Who knows, maybe you will be able to change people’s perception of your profession with your positive attitude.