3 Recession-Proof Jobs With a History of Growth
Protect yourself with these career paths.
Recessions are hard for everyone involved since people need to make money, but they can lose their jobs during those periods. After all, some businesses must fire workers if they can’t make enough money to keep paying people, leading to further challenges and shortages.
However, you’ll come across recession-proof jobs around the world. These refer to positions that never die down since they involve aspects of life people must do, such as health and maintaining their living space, making these jobs always available and essential.
Blue-Collar Tradespeople: Plumbers, Electricians, and Roofers
Blue-collar jobs work if you look through important jobs during recessions. Since populations continue to grow, millions of homes exist throughout the United States, requiring people to care for and maintain those buildings.
However, the number of skilled workers needed to maintain them doesn’t match the number of locations around the country, leading to worker shortages. Even in recent years, people have seen examples of blue-collar demand rising compared to the number of jobs needed.
Why They’re Recession-Proof
As you look into blue-collar jobs and why they’re always around, you’ll notice three crucial reasons.
- There's very few workers
- The jobs are in high demand
- They’re often self-employed
Since not many people work as plumbers, electricians, and roofers, people don’t have many options when they need work done. They have to turn to the people who already know how to do the job, making the job security higher for those specialists and experts in their fields.
On top of not having many options, blue-collar jobs get tons of demand from people. People constantly need help fixing their plumbing, electricity, and roofs, allowing these workers to thrive while they have the jobs necessary to cover their bills and make a living.
Since many of them are self-employed, they can’t lose their jobs. Instead, they can lose clients, but they’ll have other clients to work with, allowing them to continue working, making money, and seeking opportunities to grow in the field.
Nursing and Healthcare Staff
You should consider nursing and healthcare. Such work allows you to work at hospitals and assist those who face health-related issues. Since illness still happens during a recession, you can have your job while helping those in need.
Some people find nursing fulfilling since they know they’re saving lives and helping people work past their health issues. You can maintain a stable job, work plenty of hours, and make enough money to support your family, though you’ll have long work hours.
Why They’re Recession-Proof
The nursing industry has some pros that make it a solid choice as a recession-proof position.
- Solid growth over the previous two decades
- Shortage of qualified workers
- Hospitals have sustainable funding
Since the industry continues to grow, people have opportunities to work as nurses and get their feet into the door. Likewise, since the industry continues to grow, hospitals naturally need more people to work there, so they’ll care for all their patients.
On top of the rapid growth, the industry doesn’t have enough workers to cover all the jobs. That means if you work as a nurse, not only will you have job security, but you can make more money as you gain experience and education related to the industry.
Hospitals even get mixed funds (grants, donors, insurance, etc.), which helps them remain stable. They can use those funds to keep the hospitals open while paying everyone to work despite economic challenges. With that in mind, hospitals won’t have as many layoffs as other jobs.
Teachers and Education Administrators
Even though people lose jobs during a recession, the opposite tends to happen in the education industry. If you look into previous recessions, you’ll notice many colleges and education programs grew by 25 percent.
Interestingly, these numbers increase from older adults who return to school rather than those out of high school. When recessions happen, people recognize they need education to get better jobs, so they return to school for those opportunities.
Why They’re Recession-Proof
Like with other recession-proof jobs, you’ll notice a few reasons teachers and education administrators fall into these categories.
- People need the education to advance
- Schools need more teachers
- Many schools receive funding
People know they can use education to gain job security. They'll seek degrees and certificates if they lose jobs during a recession. Since young adults also constantly seek these credentials, education always remains relevant and increases regularly.
Schools also need teachers and will do what they can to keep the same teachers for their careers. Since they want to retain those teachers, they’ll rarely fire them as long as they do their jobs and avoid legal trouble.
Schools also receive help from the government and donations. Since governments rely on schools to perform well and educate the youth for the future, they naturally put money and taxes toward schools, ensuring they can pay their teachers and provide a high-quality education.
What option will you choose?
Even though no job is 100% recession-proof, some industries have more stability than others. So if you stick with a business or industry that remains strong in a recession, you’ll have lower odds of losing the job.
Ensure you consider which ones lower during a recession, so you’ll stick to a job with higher security. Doing so means thinking about how people act during a recession and what they avoid. Then, you can choose your career based on those points to keep your job.
You can either seek jobs that fall into those industries or look into potential avenues based on your experiences, skills, and how you can integrate yourselves into those positions. Although doing so takes time, you’ll protect your career and increase your job security.