The Hardest Jobs I’ve Seen Abroad (and Why People Still Do Them)
The hardest jobs I’ve seen abroad (and why people still do them). Some jobs make you question what it means to “work hard.” Not the 9-to-5 type of hard — I’m talking about life-or-death hard. The kind where the wrong breath, slip, or cut could be the end. Over the years, I’ve seen people do the hardest jobs in the world, and not because they want to — but because they have to.
Contents: Hard Jobs You’ll Read About:
1. The River Divers of Bangladesh
Dhaka’s rivers look less like water and more like industrial soup — thick, black, and full of sweetcorn… Yet every morning, men plunge into that toxic sludge searching for scrap metal from decades of waste and rubbish.
I watched a 55-year-old diver who’s done this for 30 years, kitted up with a cloudy PVC mask and a wheezing air hose that blasts oxygen constantly from a compressor. He’s dropped into total darkness using just his hands to feel the riverbed for scrap.
The hardest jobs I’ve seen abroad (and why people still do them)
FAQ…
- What makes these jobs the hardest in the world?
They combine extreme physical strain, life-threatening conditions, and low pay — often without legal protections or healthcare.
- Why don’t they use machines or safer methods?
In many countries labour is cheaper than the alternative. The brutal math of poverty.
- Can these jobs ever change?
Only in time, but not 10 or 15 years. Possibly 50 or more!
2. Ship Labourers in Dhaka’s Dockyards
Thirty minutes outside Old Dhaka, ships bring in sand and salt. There are no cranes — the automation is 50 humans and a bamboo basket. Workers balance ~30 kg per load on a padded ring, then tightrope two planks from boat to shore, up a sandy ramp, and dump it. Women work the same line, some with kids watching nearby
One woman told me shes been working for 20–25 years, starting 4/5 a.m for 10–12 hours. Pay is by token: one baskets = 2.5 taka / $0.02. Everyone complains of neck and back pain; falls happen — one woman broke her leg crossing the planks. Another crew was hand-emptying tipper lorries — about 6 lorries a day, 1–1.5 hours per lorry.
3. Manual Quarry Workers in the DRC
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, I watched men and women breaking stones with hammers.
No machinery, no drills, no eye protection — just bare hands, cracked palms, and patience that borders on madness. It is seeing these type of jobs you realise no matter your situation in the west, it could be worse!
For sure this just doesn’t break rocks; it breaks bodies but for many, it’s the only job that exists.
In places where automation and industry never reached, muscle and grit is still the machine.
The hardest jobs I’ve seen abroad (and why people still do them)
4. The Diamond Miners of Sierra Leone
If you think diamonds are glamorous, visit the pits they come from. In Sierra Leone, men dig knee-deep in muddy water for stones they’ll never afford. Each shovel of mud could be worth nothing — or everything.
They gamble with malaria, landslides, and contaminated water, driven by the same dream that built the luxury jewelry trade.
RELATED READ: DRC CHECKPOINT TROUBLE
5. Scrap Foragers in Nigeria’s Landfills
In Lagos and beyond, I visited a landfill site where men spent their days shifting through mountains of waste, searching for scraps of copper, aluminium, and plastic. Here there are many issues to content with, nothing more so than the smell.
Many of the workers are from neighbouring countries such as Niger and work barefoot, inhaling toxic fumes, surrounded by rats and smoke from burning piles of electronics.
It’s another crazy ‘job’ that does nothing but allow them to survive.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Unfortunately these jobs keep cities running, ships moving, and industries alive — all while remaining invisible to the rest of the world.
I’ve seen these people up close, they don’t want these opportunities and would do anything for something better.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
