The Myth Of Recession-Proof Jobs | How certain sectors survive in a recession and how your job can, too
Photo/Edd Cote
Tanja Hayward, managing partner of Partnership Employment in Worcester, says now isn't the time to ask for a bonus or arrive late to work.
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Lynn Nicholas, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Hospital Association.
With unemployment increasing as the economy worsens (it has reached 6.5 percent in the City of Worcester), job-seekers are hungry for advice on which jobs and sectors are safest when things go sour.
Tanja Hayward, managing partner at employment agency Partnership Employ-ment in Worcester, said that while health care is traditionally seen as the single most recession-proof job, an increasingly desperate economy tends to pull that title away from any line of work.
Get Your Ducks In Order
She said there are things people can do to recession-proof their jobs and themselves regardless of which sector they’re in. She said one’s resume should be kept up-to-date “so you’re not left hanging. You don’t want to say, ‘Oh, I haven’t written a resume in years and I just got laid off.’”
But beyond that, “People who add value are the ones who are going to be kept. The good employees are the ones who are going to keep their jobs” as companies look to trim their budgets.
So, do the work and then do a little extra and be happy to have a job.
“This is not the time to be asking for bonuses or coming in late,” Hayward said. “The ones being laid off are the mediocre.”
For the decidedly un-mediocre, there are a few industries that have reputations for job security even in tough times.
These days, those industries and occupations — bankruptcy law, health care and education — are all being trotted out again as “recession proof.” But people in those professions say it isn’t quite that easy. Sure, those occupations see opportunity when times get tough, are always in high demand or are in traditionally stable industries, but they are not immune. Especially now, even the smartest people in those professions still must find ways to make their jobs more secure. Some even had their own off-the-cuff suggestions for recession-proof jobs.
Bankruptcy Law
Joseph Baldiga, a partner in the bankruptcy group at Mirick O’Connell in Worcester, said that while the time is right to be a bankruptcy attorney, one can’t expect the weak economy or the current credit crisis to deliver mountains of business on a silver platter.
“It’s certainly busy, as a bankruptcy lawyer,” Baldiga said. “It’s the right cycle to be in. If you’re a bankruptcy lawyer, things are great in a boom cycle, too” because businesses take on more risk, he said.
He said how well an attorney manages his practice in the boom cycles will dictate whether he or she is even busier in a downturn. “And you should be busy,” he said.
George Tetler, a bankruptcy attorney at Bowditch & Dewey in Worcester, said the profession is certainly not recession-proof.
“When the country’s not in a recession, bankruptcy is in a recession. There was a sharp drop-off between ’05 and ’07 and it’s only recently picked up,” he said.
Tetler said he could think of only one truly recession-proof job: “Maybe an undertaker,” he said.
Undertaker
“That’s just a silly comment people make all the time,” said Jim Kelly, the second-generation owner of Kelly Funeral Home on Lincoln Street in Worcester.
“If you work for a funeral home, and expenses are going up, you can get laid off just like anyone else,” Kelly said. Owning a funeral home might be another story, but Kelly said expenses for things like fuel and taxes do put pressure on the business. Kelly avoids typical recession pitfalls with a policy that encourages the aggrieved not to overspend on merchandise. That’s helping him now, when “there is a trend of spending less on merchandise.”
“What’s important is the quality and meaningfulness of the ceremony. I encourage people to spend less on merchandise. If you spend a lot on a casket or a funeral vault, it doesn’t make the funeral better. The worst question a funeral director can ask to any aggrieved person is, ‘What do you want?’ They want to not be here.”
Health Care
Unless they die suddenly, many of the people Kelly sees have also been a part of the health care system.
The state’s and the region’s largest employer has traditionally been unaffected by economic downturns. Health care, after all, isn’t really subject to the vagaries of supply and demand the same way other businesses are.
Lynn Nicholas, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, said health care is traditionally recession-proof, but this time it’s different. This time, “hospitals are experiencing decreased inpatient volume” as people put off elective procedures.
Along with the decrease in volume has come increased labor and medical supply costs and a severe slowdown in the capital financing market.
The result is that hospitals are “re-examining their budgets,” Nicholas said, and finding ways to cut costs. “They’re reducing workforce and delaying or canceling capital projects,” bringing some of the nastiest effects of a recession to an industry that hasn’t always experienced them.
Education
In general, education is not recession-proof, according to Ed Ottensmeyer, dean of the Clark University School of Management in Worcester.
“But there are pockets where it would be, yes.”
Where education is “slightly more recession-proof,” Ottensmeyer said, is in disciplines that see increases in interest during recessions, “places where students go in a recession.”
He said graduate schools, especially law school, MBA programs and graduate programs in technology could be especially promising for educators looking for added job security. Those schools, he said, see increased enrollment during recessions as students graduate into a lackluster job market and decide to put off the job search in order to pursue an advanced degree.
“You have to look at where the demand is and people who work in professional schools are buffered.”
Liquor Stores
Drinking isn’t just for when all else fails. A liquor store is a bread-and-butter business for entrepreneurs and first-time small business owners.
Two days before Christmas, many liquor stores around Worcester looked like money. If people are cutting back, it’s not on drinks.
When money’s tight, folks might not eat at restaurants as frequently, but they will almost certainly buy a bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner at home.
Jim Vasiliadis, owner of O’Hara’s Wine and Liquors on West Boylston Street in Worcester, said beer, wine and liquor are “a necessity.”
“It’s part of your everyday life, your everyday routine. It’s not a luxury item, per se. You find ways. If you drink a particular drink and times are tough, maybe you buy less expensive liquors to make that drink.”
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