# What job categories are the most recession-proof? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574 "2009-03-16T00:50:42Z")\ **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:** [March 16, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/1 "2009-03-16T00:50:42Z")
Leaving aside obvious things like tenured professorships and military service. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/2 "2009-03-16T01:06:30Z")
Tenure doesn’t do you much good if the institution offering it to you shuts down, as a lot of professors are finding out these days. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/3 "2009-03-16T01:08:43Z")
HVAC - technician? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/4 "2009-03-16T01:10:09Z")
Unemployment office worker. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/5 "2009-03-16T01:11:28Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Tenure doesn’t do you much good if the institution offering it to you shuts down, as a lot of professors are finding out these days. Similarly, public school teaching used to be considered fairly recession-proof, but the current conditions of state budgets (e.g. California’s) is causing layoffs in many school districts. Ed ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/6 "2009-03-16T01:11:29Z")
Stores that sell food are doing very well. People gotta eat. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/7 "2009-03-16T01:25:17Z")
Politician. The _profession_ is recession proof, if not the individual. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/8 "2009-03-16T01:28:07Z")
Any basic service, such as repair plumber, garbage collector, mail delivery person etc. People don’t cut back on these things… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/9 "2009-03-16T01:39:16Z")
I have friends who are tradesmen (carpenter, painter, plumber) who do side-work and they tell me their day jobs aren’t doing so hot, their side work is doing great. People are fixing up their homes instead of looking for new ones. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/10 "2009-03-16T02:49:52Z")
My job is pretty damn recession-proof. I work in debt counseling. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/11 "2009-03-16T02:51:50Z")
Are health-related services relatively immune to economic conditions? ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/12 "2009-03-16T03:06:55Z")
NPR had an interview the other day with an attorney who represents banks in foreclosures. He was fully employed + 1. Actually, both sides of that equation are probably pretty recession proof. I have read multiple times that women’s cosmetics is fairly recession proof as an industry. Maybe guys can’t trade up to a trophy wife so they pretty up the current one? Actually, the explanation was more along the lines of women treating themselves to small luxuries (lipstick) rather than large ones (shoes). ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Elliot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jane_elliot/32/6166_2.png) [@Jane\_Elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Elliot)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/13 "2009-03-16T03:07:07Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > My job is pretty damn recession-proof. I work in debt counseling. My job is also pretty damn recession-proof. I prepare bankruptcies for a law firm. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/14 "2009-03-16T03:32:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are health-related services relatively immune to economic conditions? Not really… When people get laid off, they loose insurance. So they don’t fix the sorts of things they’d fix if they had insurance. Knees go unfixed, infertility doesn’t get taken care of. Even simple things like throat swaps - a $10 office copay with insurance is $70 without insurance and becomes “lets see if this clears up on its own.” My sister works for a small hospital and hours have been cut - functionally for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/15 "2009-03-16T03:33:49Z")
Criminality. If you’re really successful, you’ll thrive. If not, you’ll at least get a place to stay, with three meals a day. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/16 "2009-03-16T04:42:24Z")
Theres a difference between jobs which are recession-proof and jobs which are counter-cyclical. Being a foreclosure agent is great until the housing market picks up again and you’re out of a job. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/17 "2009-03-16T05:11:59Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Tenure doesn’t do you much good if the institution offering it to you shuts down, as a lot of professors are finding out these days. Not only that, but even if your department is closed, tenure is of no value. My university is likely to close whole departments soon, and there will be full professors getting pink slips (so to speak.) Hopefully not, but rumors abound, and it seems pretty likely. Some really highly-valued professors might get transferred to other departments, but many will be laid off, almost certainly. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/18 "2009-03-16T05:32:31Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Stores that sell food are doing very well. People gotta eat. Dad became a sewage treatment operator because, “folks can cut back on how much they eat, but everybody’s got to flush.” ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/19 "2009-03-16T05:37:16Z")
Hospital nursing is pretty good. Sure, there are people who won’t go to the doctor for relatively minor problems, but a lot of these people get sicker and wind up in the ER rather than just…die. Elective surgeries like LASIK (my husband’s in a laser eye surgery office) are doing really badly, but people still get cancer, heart disease, heart failure, liver failure, etc. And they need treatment of some sort, even if they can’t afford it. Some hospitals have laid off nurses in our area, though, and that really sucks. Still, I’m a new graduate RN, and I just had a job offer and two other interviews (offers pending). If I can get a job in nursing, anyone can. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574/20 "2009-03-16T11:44:13Z")
I recently had some legal issues and based on the difficulty I had getting just getting a lawyer to discuss it with me tells me that they must be very busy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-categories-are-the-most-recession-proof/489574.md?page=2)