Telemarketing: The World's Newest Oldest Profession?

This story may have some changing their mind about being on the "Do Not Call" registry.

Prostitutes retrain as nurses, tele-marketers
BERLIN (Reuters) - German prostitutes are signing up for a career change, training to become nurses to tend to the country's aging population or working phones as tele-marketers.

Thirty prostitutes have enlisted in a church-funded project in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia and more are on a waiting list, project coordinator Gisela Zohren said.

"Competition in prostitution is fierce and the days when one could make a decent living out of it are long gone, especially once you hit the thirties," Zohren said.

She said prostitutes' fees had hit rock bottom and they were well suited to jobs on offer in the retraining program.

"After years of prostitution, they know how to listen, look after people and are savvy in selling over the phone," she said.

Experts in the care industry for the aged also welcomed the initiative.

"We have more and more old and fewer and fewer young people, so there is a strong demand for people working in care professions," said Franz Wagner, head of the German association of care professions.