# What job categories are the most nearly recession-proof? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991 "2012-07-31T21:07:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/1 "2012-07-31T21:07:52Z")
That is, in what job categories are you most likely to get through a prolonged economic recession without ever getting fired or laid off? Or without difficulty in finding new employment in the event you need (for other reasons in your life) to relocate or something? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/2 "2012-07-31T21:15:20Z")
Each recession impacts certain kinds of jobs more than others. The type of job that survives one recession might be wiped out by the next. In the current recession, the construction and financial/banking fields have been hardest hit. Women have lost fewer jobs than men (though this is more about industry than gender). Health care and accounting have both been good industries this time around. ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/3 "2012-07-31T21:26:15Z")
Until this recession, I always thought my job (law enforcement) was pretty recession-proof. There’s always crime, and it rises in tough economic times. So, there should always be lot of work for cops. Unfortunately, government jobs are hit along with everyone else. So even though we may need more cops on the street, those jobs get cut, too. My department lost 20% of patrol jobs over the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/4 "2012-07-31T21:26:33Z")
Bartenders. In Tough Times people seek solace at the bottom of a bottle. Movie house workers. People want some Fantasy to make them forget their own lives for a while. Is it any wonder that, during the time of Prohibition and The Great Depression, speakeasies flourished and movie stars reigned during the Golden Age of cinema? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/5 "2012-07-31T22:16:16Z")
> [@Thalion](#): > > Until this recession, I always thought my job (law enforcement) was pretty recession-proof. There’s always crime, and it rises in tough economic times. So, there should always be lot of work for cops. > > Unfortunately, government jobs are hit along with everyone else. So even though we may need more cops on the street, those jobs get cut, too. My department lost 20% of patrol jobs over the last few years. Similarly, it was famously true that a good job during the Great Depression was as a teacher. They were paid relatively well and pretty secure. Nowadays teachers are being laid off all over. So every recession is different. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/6 "2012-07-31T22:30:31Z")
Bankruptcy lawyer? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/7 "2012-07-31T22:32:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That is, in what job categories are you most likely to get through a prolonged economic recession without ever getting fired or laid off? Or without difficulty in finding new employment in the event you need (for other reasons in your life) to relocate or something? As for Job Categories - Elected and Appointed Government Officials. They never suffer a reduction in workforce. However, an individual holding one of these positions may indeed lose their job, and be unable to get a similar job in the future. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/8 "2012-07-31T22:49:49Z")
Pharmaceutical sciences (drug manufacturing/analytical chemistry much more so than R&D); people will always get sick and need drugs, and the industry has strong presences in many major cities and countries worldwide, so hits in one place don’t always affect other areas. It’s no guarantee, but it’s still a pretty stable industry overall, at least in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/9 "2012-07-31T23:07:02Z")
Undertaker. People are just dying to hire him… ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/10 "2012-07-31T23:09:31Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Similarly, it was famously true that a good job during the Great Depression was as a teacher. They were paid relatively well and pretty secure. Even though they didn’t lay them off, they often quit paying them or paid them in scrip. I’m sure that if school districts could get away with that these days, there’d be fewer layoffs. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/11 "2012-07-31T23:11:44Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Bartenders. > > In Tough Times people seek solace at the bottom of a bottle. I was a bartender for years and I always saod when times are good people drink, when times are bad they drink even more. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/12 "2012-07-31T23:15:09Z")
I have two sons in the IT/communications fields and one in the DIY box store business. All have been employed throughout this mess. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/13 "2012-07-31T23:17:20Z")
Well, my Dad made his career choice on the theory that **Sewage Treatment Plant Operators** \* had recession-proof jobs. He figured that if anyone was still eating, they’d have to flush. - Yes, I know that the current preference is to say Wastewater. He was in sewage before it was trendy. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/14 "2012-08-01T00:48:29Z")
repo man and debt collectors. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/15 "2012-08-01T01:47:25Z")
I agree with bartenders. When times are bad, people are there to drink to forget their troubles. When times are good, you’ll still have a job, because people will be there to celebrate! ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/16 "2012-08-01T03:04:32Z")
Barbers ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/17 "2012-08-01T03:08:01Z")
I read somewhere that insurance actuaries have very high job satisfaction, due to a combination of good pay, relatively low stress and good job security. Part of the job security may be due to the fact that qualifying for the job takes a lot of work and brains, limiting the number of potential competitors. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/18 "2012-08-01T03:36:28Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Undertaker. People are just dying to hire him… Yep, people keep dying recession or not and something has to be done with their corpses. Most grieving families will beg, borrow, and still to give their loved ones a “proper funeral”. I’d say crematoria operators are in an even better position than funeral homes since when mourners do opt for cheap they tend to pick cremation over burial. Even when the body’s donated to science somebody get’s payed to cremate it after the students are done. And then there’s all the prision systems & local governments that opt to cremate unclaimed bodies instead of burying them en masse in Potter’s Field. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/19 "2012-08-01T03:52:55Z")
> [@Thalion](#): > > Until this recession, I always thought my job (law enforcement) was pretty recession-proof. There’s always crime, and it rises in tough economic times. So, there should always be lot of work for cops. > > Unfortunately, government jobs are hit along with everyone else. So even though we may need more cops on the street, those jobs get cut, too. My department lost 20% of patrol jobs over the last few years. Milwaukee County sheriffs Office laid off [48](http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/138828969.html) Deps, some with as much as 10 years on the job. I had 25 years on the job when I retired in 2007. At no time did I think something like this would happen. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991/20 "2012-08-01T04:12:47Z")
I’m a nurse; I don’t expect to be made redundant anytime soon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-nearly-recession-proof/629991.md?page=2)