5 Recession Proof Careers for the Next Decade
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In a downsizing economy, the best return on investment for your career may be to focus on your current job. Still, preparing for your next job or next career can be a wise move. In uncertain times, pursuing your dream job may take the back seat to pursuing a career that is in demand.
While there are no sure-things any more when it comes to employment, there still are some sound hedged bets. If you are thinking about your next career move, you may want to consider throwing these professional fields on your short list:
1. Health Care:
We’ve all heard the stories about how an aging baby boomer population is creating a demand for health care professionals, particularly nurses. The statistics back up this data. In October, 2008, while 240,000 jobs were lost in the U.S., the health care industry added 26,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 348,000 total jobs have been added in this field over the last 12 months.
Half of the 30 fastest growing jobs over the next 8 years will be in the medical field. The industry is still paying sign-on bonuses and schooling for those who commit to future employment. It’s also worth noting that a career in the medical field makes you extremely mobile to move around the country should your local or regional market ever shed jobs.
The closest thing to a guarantee in any field may be job of ‘personal and home care aide’. The BLS is projecting 773,000 to be added by 2016, more than any other profession.
2. Networking/System Administration:
The BLS predicts that this profession will have the highest growth rate (53%) of any major job by 2016. The median starting salary of $55K-$65K is a good reflection of the demand for the job.
Despite the dot com boom and bust, movement towards online systems integration has trended upwards over time. As legions of hackers continue to create new ways to compromise the integrity of the systems that they attack, it has become increasingly important for networks to be iron-clad-secure in order to maintain user trust and a positive public image.
3. Computer Software Engineers/Applications:
Demand for good computer engineering talent has not lacked over the last decade, and probably won’t over the next 10 either. The BLS predicts this field will add another 226,000 jobs by 2016. Although startups may be hard pressed to find venture capital over the next few years, the emergence of freeware dot coms and competition amongst the software giants should lead to further job increases in this field, and have pressed median starting salaries above $80K.
4. Green Energy/Global Warming
The next decade should produce a large number of jobs in all fields relating to green energy and the fight against global warming. The Obama administration plans to pump $150 billion into the field over the next 10 years and predicts that this will create 5 million new jobs. Jobfox lists mechanical engineering and electrical engineers amongst the 20 most recession-proof jobs, and much of this growth will be in the area of green engineering.
Specifically, think battery technicians, wind, solar, CO2 emissions technology, nanotechnology, materials sciences, natural gas exploration and infrastructure, and nuclear.
5. Customer/Client Facing
Jobfox.com lists sales representatives and account/customer support as the #1 and #2 most recession-proof professions. Why? Slow growth demands people that can get results and keep clients/customers happy.
Many companies are viewing the current economic slowdown as the perfect opportunity to steal market share as competitors cut back so that when the economy emerges they will come out stronger than ever. To do this, they realize they need the right talent to interact with the external world.
Your Next Move
While you shouldn’t abandon your life goals, focusing on a career that can result in almost certain present employment that allows you to build transferable skills can be the best solution for now and for your future.
For more of GE Miller’s writing, see the 20somethingfinance.com personal finance blog.
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8 Comments so far
leave a commentWall street Journal came out with a list of the best and worst jobs in America, see where the oens you guys listed rank!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123119236117055127.html
On this topic, i think the biggest thing is communicating this kind of information to younger people in HS and college.
If a student wants to get into green technologies, what courses do colleges really have to offer? Independent studies? I know sciences and engineering courses may help but if we want green careers we also need green educations!
I am just mad you guys did not list house husband b/c Id be all over that!
OK, so the really easy answer to a “Recession-proof” career is to engage in a career that can create a lot of value. The deal is simple, if you make the company $100k / year and they only have to spend $80k to keep you around (after taxes, benefits and overhead), then they’re not going to let you go. And if they do, it’s typically not for long. This is true in basically any field.
The jobs listed above really fall into 3 categories:
- Healthcare
- Engineering / Applied Sciences
- Sales
These all have pretty clear-cut value propositions: save lives, build things and sell the things you build. So yeah, if you didn’t already know taking sciences is probably a good thing.
However, I do want to warn against health care in the US right now. Yes, an aging population means that people will likely need more healthcare. However, the US has a growing problem with un-insured and under-insured citizens. The current Medicare program is also completely unsustainable at current taxation levels. Empty beds don’t generate any money, but nor do beds filled with citizens who can’t afford to pay for the beds they’re in.
So even if healthcare continues to employ people, there is quite likely to be a squeeze on salaries as hospitals are forced to make cuts to remain profitable. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that there has ever been an over-supply of doctors, but I also don’t believe that current salaries are sustainable b/c fewer and fewer people can afford care at this cost.
It’s also worth noting that the computer engineer starting salaries listed above are probably very wrong. I work in the industry, MS pays their research people about 7.5k / month (~$90k). These are “entry-level” positions that require PhDs & typically some industry experience. Google pay is in a similar, but both of these are in expensive regions of the country. Plus Google just “laid off” 10k people and MS basically stopped hiring.
So if you graduate from college this year with your programming cert and some web apps under your belt, do not expect to earn 80k to start.
Most jobs are obtained from networking. Career Builder and other online job search site are a complete waste of time.
What about education? This field will necessarily become only more important. The need for quality educators has never been greater and will only continue to increase.
Hey, don’t forget the Military! Pay raises every year. Free medical for you and super cheap for your family. Dental too. Retirement at 20 years with a guarenteed wage for the rest of your life. If the government stops paying none is getting paid! Young folks can actually retire at age 38 people!!! And the pay is not as bad as you may think.
hey…im currently on the verge of selecting a carrer but im damn confused as to which engineering carrer i should select ?i want to select something offbeat like robotics and aeronautics but im worried ?plz guide me …im an indian resident….
Of the 5 areas mentioned, perhaps one possibility is being overlooked, though it could be squeezed in the green energy category in a stretch, since it involves creating an income without leaving home, or at least far from it.
Since so many are talking about being more creative during this economic slump, why not think outside the box of looking to work for another in the first place? I know, I know, but stay with me for a moment.
It’s amazing that there are plenty of skill sets that are for whatever reason not “conventional” enough to be taught in schools, but the mastery of which would lead to more autonomy.
Most of us are trained to be employees- nothing wrong with that, but thinking that way can be a kind of tunnel vision that keeps many from learning skills that would allow them to carve out their own path to income and contribution.
One of them is as close as the computer in front of you. No really, for the first time in history, we are 3 feet in front of the world, yet few learn how to use it in a way to render 1) value to others and 2)income for themselves.
There ARE ways to learn this stuff, if you can avoid all the junk and find good and reputable sources.
leavethejobbehind.com
The recession can be a blessing in disguise. After I got laid off from my job, I was wondering about the direction my professional life was going in. I decided to completely change my career and enrolled in some administrative assistant courses in Dallas, Texas and quickly found a career (I believe this coincides with point #4) doing what I love at a great company.