Recession-Proof Industries for Your Job Search

Time to Read: 5 minutes

Summary of Recession-Proof Industries for Your Job Search

• Has COVID-19 started a global recession?
• Recessions are a general decline in economic activity. With that comes a domino effect on employment, spending, and business practices.
• While a recession is among us and businesses are remote due to the virus, candidates should still be job searching and looking for positions in recession-proof industries before the decline really takes hold and affects recruitment.

Are we headed towards a recession with COVID-19?

Staffing Industry Analysts released a news article stating that the US is in fact already in a recession due to COVID-19. The data reported by SIA comes from a UCLA Anderson Forecast report detailing the strong economic start to 2020 was not a match or the rapid effects of the coronavirus outbreak, which have “reduced the first-quarter 2020 forecast of GDP growth to 0.4%.” According to the UCLA Anderson forecast, a full recovery and return to the previous trends are now expected in 2022.

What is a recession?

A recession is a period in a business cycle when economic activities are in a general decline. With that comes an increase in unemployment, falling income and consumer spending, rising business failures, and falling stock markets. Recessions bring on panic, but the fact is recessions are an unavoidable, but common occurrence in the modern economy.

Do recessions happen often? How long should a recession last?

The operative word here is “cycle.” Recessions will come and go, but it is hard to say how often they happen or gauge how often they should happen. The US has not endured a recession since 2009.

The length of a recession depends on the time when economic growth begins to pick up. Within history, recessions have ranged anywhere from a few months to several years. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the longest recession since the 1850s lasted 65 months with the shortest lasting six months. The latest recession (December 2007-June 2009) was the US’ longest since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Recession-Proof Industries to Look for Jobs

No company is 100 percent protected from a recession, but there are quite a few industries that, despite the economic decline, still stay afloat. Despite experts declaring the US is in a recession, companies are still hiring, especially at this time before the virus and/or the recession takes hold. Be proactive in your job search, and scope out positions in the following recession-proof industries:

• Accounting and Finance
• Consumer Goods
• Computer and IT services
• Food and Beverage/Grocery
• Healthcare: Hospital, Insurance
• Pharmaceuticals
• Shipping and Delivery
• Technology/Software

This is to name a few. Another tip is too not limit yourself to full-time, direct-hire work. One surefire way to increase your income is to have multiple streams of income. Diversify your skillset, and look for contract work. Even though there is an end date, there are many benefits to contract work.

How to prepare for a recession?

It’s been just over 10 years since the last recession began recuperating, but unfortunately, Americans aren’t 100 percent recuperated – living a new normal. With the COVID-19 outbreak, and another recession on the horizon (or already among us, depending on your sources), how does one prepare for the brunt of it?

Preparing for a recession is a financial play, and for those able, one that requires slow but steady planning. Top financial advisors tout the following to be financially ready for anything:

• Build an emergency fund
• Reduce debt
• Track spending
• Adjust and reallocate budgets
• Automate bills when possible

But what if you do not have these tips in play, what can you do now? If you are feeling overwhelmed with thoughts around finance, here are a few podcasts and blogs to check out: Dave Ramsey, Money Girl Blog/Podcast, Mr. Money Mustache. Each varies in their level of intensity, so take what you want, and leave the rest. *We are not financial advisors, but we can offer helpful resources that have guided our staff from experience.

Profiles Places with Recession-Proof Industries

COVID-19 came into society and dumped the workforce as we know it on its head. Here at Profiles, we are readily equipped to assist both our clients and talent navigate this uncertain time. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, Profiles is till working with 90 percent of its clients with well over three-fourths of those within recession-proof industries.