Earlier this month, my occupation disappeared.

There I was, strutting around Parliament House as a print journalist, pen behind my ear, a dog-eared notepad in my back pocket, and a fedora emblazoned with “press” on my head – and then suddenly, nothing.

Credit: Dionne Gain

It wasn’t just print journalists that, in the world of statistical measurement, have gone the way of fullers*. Barbers, clinical psychologists, urban planners, ambulance officers, immigration officers, kennel hands, and radio and television journalists also found themselves out of an occupation in recent weeks.

Of course, these jobs still exist in a practical sense. But according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and its list of occupations? Not so much.

About 300 new occupations were added to the list, and about 250 were “retired” as of December 6. We now have a separate occupation entitled “electric vehicle technician”, for instance, as well as swimming pool and spa builders, garage door installers, shed builders, and window furnishing installers. These have been carved out of a broad category of “home improvement installers”.

In my industry, though, the opposite has occurred. Until a fortnight ago, under the joint Australia-New Zealand list, print journalists were designated as occupation 212413, radio journalists were 212414, and television journalists were 212416.

Now though, after decades of work, the ABS has lumped us into one lot – “journalists” (31332). This designation includes print hands like........

© Brisbane Times