Is there really such a thing as a recession-proof job?
By Kate Lorenz on Jul 20, 2009 in Employment Trends, Featured
The CareerBuilder team has written its fair share about protecting your career in a down economy and recession-proof jobs topic, including articles like Is Your Job Recession-Proof? and 10 Recession-Proof Jobs. But is “recession-proof” just the term du jour?
Today’s Chicago Tribune published an article arguing there is no such thing as a recession-proof job. “Giant industries that have taken on the recession-proof mantle include health care and food, education and government. Clearly, it can’t all be recession-proof,” Greg Burns writes.
Does this mean that so-called safe industries like government, health care and education are just as vulnerable as retail and manufacturing? While nothing is 100% in any economy, there are some industries that fare better than others during a recession. What is important to look at are the gains and losses in industries, their subsectors and also regionally.
The BLS reported last week that in June 2009, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 39 states and the District of Columbia, but it increased in 10 states and was unchanged in one state. Drilling down into the latest BLS industry employment data, several sectors added jobs in June including: transit and ground passenger tranportation, general merchandise stores, health care, nursing and residential care facilities, and personal and laundry services.
Patty Perrin | Jul 20, 2009 | Reply
Where other companies are cutting back, ours is expanding — and we’re looking for sharp people to help us grow! Other companies are cancelling reward trips – ours get better! Our industry thrives during recessions, and the incomes of the people involved are growing. Take a look and get back to us.
Denis | Jul 20, 2009 | Reply
The word recession is just an excuse to most people, just na excuse to stop working and start blaming the current market and economic trend. Who is the cause for this so called economic slow down, we including me. We made it this way, every citizen is responsible the way things are gone and is currently going,for those who still have their jobs needs to work more smarter and not harder and those who have lost theirs just give up hope there are lots of job opportunities coming up its just the matter of time and I’m sure tits all going to get back to normal. Just keep learning the market trends and keep updating yourselves on wat happening around so that when you attend an i nterview you would have pretty good knowledge on what ever field you’re concentrating on. Just keep fighting guys n gals and it will happen.
worldlymrb | Jul 21, 2009 | Reply
Don’t use the word FIRED either. With such a large pool of job seekers available who were laid off due to “lack of work” It is almost a immediate disqualifier. If you were fired from any job, I would remove it from your resume. If it leaves to big a gap on your resume, you may have to start thinking outside the box.
With so many overqualified applicants looking for lower paying, or entry level jobs, any blemish on your resume is a serious handicap. Put yourself in the employers shoes for a sec.. Would you rather hire a experienced, individual with a impeccable work record who was laid off from downsizing, or somebody who got themselves fired on their resume?
There is a survey that says nearly 20% of Americans were fired or forced to resign a job in the last 10 years. With this being the worse economy since the great depression, it is no wonder that companies like this are springing up on the internet. http://careerexcuse.com
Capitalism at it’s worse.