Looking for a Recession Proof Job?
You’ve likely heard about the possibility that we are on our way to a recession. Indeed, that news can be scary to hear regardless of your career. Recessions come with fewer jobs, higher prices, and overall stress. Of course, nothing is set in stone, but it’s good to be prepared. Unfortunately, no job is 100% recession-proof. But there are more stable jobs that you can count on in today’s market.
If you’re worried that your career may be at risk in a recession, consider looking into other job options. For example, tech, education, and healthcare tend to be safer. Notably, demand for these services never goes down, even when the economy suffers.
As these fields require specialized skills, you often need a degree or certificate to find work successfully. Thus, you may want to research your education options now. However, there’s no need to panic if you don’t have a degree. You still have options. Keep reading to learn about the safest jobs in a recession.
Table of Contents
Top 4 Industries with Recession-Proof Jobs
1. Healthcare
Historically, healthcare has been safest even when the economy is at its worst. Truly, people will always need medical care. There are a couple of different jobs you can pursue in medicine, with or without a degree. Notably, you can enter some of these careers within a few months of training.
Additionally, healthcare is one of the top three sectors with work-from-home potential. So, if you’re looking to stay in the home office, this field may be right for you.
Pharmacy Tech
You can enter the field of pharmacy tech within a few short months of training. You’ll help keep patients safe by providing their medications in this career. Day-to-day, you’ll dispense medicine, maintain shelves, and check prescriptions for accuracy.
As a new pharmacy tech, you can expect to make $36,740 annually. You may see salary differences if you work in a small pharmacy versus a hospital pharmacy.
Also, your salary will rise with experience, and you can find growth opportunities. Pharmacies will offer supervisory and specialized positions. For example, a hospital may have special chemotherapy pharmacy technicians.
This job only requires a high school diploma. However, you can receive higher pay, be eligible for more promotions, and find work faster with a certificate.
Senior Care
Senior care facilities provide living and medical care for our elderly population. You can get many jobs in this field, including caregiver, housekeeper, cook, and more. Additionally, you can work on the administrative side as an assistant or coordinator.
Obviously, the pay in this field varies due to the variety of positions. Also, if you’re working for a small or large facility, you’ll see much different salaries.
Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) & Orderlies
If you want to work with patients, you may have considered nursing. However, this path takes time. To become a registered nurse, you need to earn your associate’s or bachelor’s in nursing and pass the national exam. Notably, most employers prefer to hire nurses with a bachelor’s.
You may want to consider becoming a CNA or orderly while studying or as an alternative. CNAs must have a high school diploma and pass a nurse assistant training program. These programs take between four and sixteen weeks.
On the other hand, orderlies only need a high school diploma. Some facilities may request additional certifications or training before you can begin.
For both careers, you can earn around $30,000 annually.
Mental Health
Another field with a variety of options is the mental health field. You find jobs in an administrative role or as a case manager. Alternatively, you don’t need a degree to become a substance abuse counselor.
Overall, mental health would be a great fit if you want a career where you help others.
Indeed has a list of mental health careers that you can get into without a degree here.
Other Certifications
Notably, there are many careers you can find in medicine. Thankfully, recession-proof jobs are accessible. Below are a few more jobs you get with only a certificate.
- Medical Biller & Coder – Medical Billing and/or Coding certificate; median salary: $54,000. Great work-from-home potential.
- Administrative Medical Assistant – Administrative Medical Assistant certificate; median salary: $37,190. Job growth: 18% between 2020 and 2030.
- EMT or Paramedic – CPR and your state’s EMT training program; median salary: $36,930. Meaningful and important work.
- EKG, Cath Lab, & other technician jobs – certificate depends on your field; median salary: as low as $30,000 but up to $70,000. Great pay for minimal education. Employers may require an associate’s degree.
Degree Options
You have many options if you want to put the time in for a degree. Here are some degrees to consider for the associate or bachelor’s level.
- Registered Nurse –Bachelor’s in Nursing; median salary: $77,600. Specialization and management opportunities with experience.
- Respiratory, Radiation, and other therapist positions – Associate’s or bachelor’s degree and specialized certification; up to $86,850 depending on specialization. High pay for an associate’s degree.
- Dietitian – Bachelor’s degree and specialized training; median salary: $61,650. Job growth: 11% between 2020 and 2030.
- Administrative positions – Associate’s or Bachelor’s in Healthcare Administration; entry-level starting at a median of $45,000 and growing to $120,000+. Supervisory, managerial, consultancy, and more positions are available.
Overall, you can find many diverse careers in healthcare. As this field is the most stable and recession-proof, it’s a great option to consider.
2. Education
As with healthcare, education won’t disappear in a recession. Our children still need school, and unemployed adults are more likely to return to college during downturns. Thus, you can find recession-proof jobs in the education sector.
Teaching isn’t your only option in this field. Schools need administrative, janitorial, food service, and other staff to keep running.
Primary and Secondary Education
Notably, many primary and secondary education careers require bachelor’s or even master’s degrees. Additionally, many jobs available to those without degrees don’t come with high salaries. However, here are a few jobs you can find in education beyond teaching and what it’ll take to get them.
- School Social Worker – education requirement varies. Depending on your location and the school, you may be able to enter this career with only your associate’s degree. However, many schools mandate a master’s degree. Entry-level salary: $45,000. School social workers help students with behavioral and emotional struggles. They’ll connect children and families with resources to help find a solution. Research the schools in your area to find out if this job would be a good fit for you.
- Teacher’s Assistant and Paraprofessionals – high school diploma or associate degree; median salary: $29,360. Teacher’s assistants help teachers maintain their classrooms. They may take over a classroom so teachers can tend to another issue or assist with confused students. Similarly, paraprofessionals help but may be assigned to one specific special-needs student.
- Technical Education Teachers – Bachelor’s degree; median salary: $61,160. Technical education teachers do not study education in college. Rather, they are experts in a trade or field, like healthcare or woodworking. Some districts require these professionals to be certified.
Higher Education
Higher education can be harder to break into than primary and secondary. However, there are a variety of paths you can take in this field. As before, you can find janitorial, food-service, and similar positions. Additionally, many colleges hire parking enforcers and grounds caretakers.
Here are a few other options for you to consider.
- Academic Advisor – Bachelor’s degree; median salary: $50,050. Academic advisors help get their students on track to earn their degrees. Thus, they need to know a university’s offerings and programs and must help students make the best planning decisions.
- Registrar – Bachelor’s degree; median salary: $55,344. College registrars maintain all student files, including financial and academic records. Additionally, registrars determine if students can graduate, calculate statistics, and handle transcripts.
- Admissions Representative – Bachelor’s degree; median salary: $45,108. Admissions representatives help potential students find the best program for them and enroll. They’ll spend many hours emailing and on the phone.
- Success Coach – Bachelor’s degree; median salary: $41,041. Success coaches help students adjust to college and help them overcome obstacles on their path to success. They may connect students to resources, develop a success plan, and provide guidance.
Degree Options
As you can see, you’ll generally need a degree to work in education. If this still sounds like the best fit for you, you might wonder what degree you’ll need. Truly, that depends on which specific job you want.
If you’re looking into primary and secondary education, generally, you’ll need a degree in education or administration. For those who already have a degree, you can also find employment with psychology, communications, social work, and technology-related degrees. However, you’ll need a master’s for many administrative and counseling positions.
While there are more bachelor’s level jobs in higher education, the degrees will be the same. Communication, administration, and education are the main degrees for this sector. Additionally, finance degrees can help you get a position in financial aid or as a registrar.
Basically, finding a recession-proof job in education takes effort, but it’s not impossible.
3. Trades
There are many benefits to having a career in the trades. One of the many: it’s relatively recession-proof. Indeed, electric, plumbing, and similar jobs will always be necessary. Notably, construction work is not included in the list of safe jobs. During a recession, people are less likely to build new homes and buildings.
Instead, we recommend bolstering the repair and installation aspect of your business. These services are vital whether this is plumbing, electric, or even car repair.
The median salary for an electrician is around $60,040. Meanwhile, the median wage for a plumber is $63,350.
How to Get Started
In most states, you only need to find an apprenticeship to become a licensed tradesperson. Yet, formal training can be a valuable resource to get you started. If you’re interested in joining a trade but don’t have the skills, you should consider trade school.
Alternatively, if you already have the base skills but need hands-on experience, start looking for apprenticeship opportunities.
After you’re licensed and ready to work in your state, you need to decide the path for your business. Do you want to start your own company or be a part of a team? Notably, there is quite a bit of competition in the world of trades. So, if you’re not the best at marketing or don’t want to fight your way to the top, it might be better to apply to local businesses.
But, if you have the entrepreneurial spirit, there are many benefits to starting your own company. For example, you can set your schedule and decide if you want to take certain jobs.
Utility Services
As an alternative, you may want to consider entering the field of public utilities. Similarly, utilities are always going to be a necessity.
- Electrical Line Worker – high school diploma and on-the-job training; median salary: $74,530. Line workers may install and/or repair power lines in their area. Like other trade jobs, you’ll likely need to enter into an apprenticeship for this career.
- Natural Gas Technician – high school diploma and certification or on-the-job training; median salary: $51,251. Similar to line workers, gas technicians install and repair natural gas lines. You may also inspect lines to ensure safety.
- Water and Sewer Utility Worker – high school diploma; median salary: $41,680. Water utility workers install and maintain water mains and monitor valves and lines.
Hair Salons
Believe it or not, one of the most recession-proof jobs is that of the hairstylist. During recessions and economic struggles, hair salons are the last thing people will give up. Basically, people still want to find ways to feel good during a time of stress and hardship. For many, spoiling themselves at the salon is a great way to do that.
Thus, if you’re worried about getting started in the beauty industry before a recession, know you picked a solid profession. Research a few ways to keep your business running and improve its sustainability. Other than that, it’s one of our top recession-proof jobs.
4. Legal
Another staple industry during a recession is the field of law. Basically, crimes will still be committed, disputes will still occur, and people will continue to file lawsuits.
If you’re not up to entering law school, you have other options for recession-proof jobs.
Legal Secretary
Often, people confuse the terms of legal secretary and paralegal. They are often used interchangeably. However, the terms refer to two different careers. For one, legal secretaries complete administrative work, while paralegals complete more in-depth legal tasks. Additionally, you don’t need a degree to become a legal secretary.
The median salary for a legal secretary is estimated to be $48,980. As with most careers, a related degree will boost your income.
Paralegal
As we mentioned, paralegals are more involved with the legal side than secretaries. They’ll interview witnesses and clients, do research for the case, and draft legal documents. Often, individuals will choose to become a paralegal before an attorney to get experience and an “in” to the field.
Paralegals need at least an associate degree, but firms may require a bachelor’s degree or the addition of a certificate.
According to the BLS, paralegals earn around $56,230 per year.
Court Reporter
Court reporters create transcriptions of everything that is said in court. To succeed in this career, you must know legal terminology and be able to type fast and accurately. Reporters use special devices called stenography machines, which often require training. Additionally, you need to have great attention to detail. Reporters often spend a great deal of time proofreading their documents for errors.
You’ll need certification and on-the-job training to get this position. The median pay is $60,380.
Final Thoughts on Recession-Proof Jobs
If you’re not interested in the jobs on this list, don’t worry just yet. While the above industries remain the strongest during economic downturns, they’re not your only options. Notably, the financial and tech industries can weather a recession.
However, small tech companies can fall easily. If you’re interested in joining the technology sector, jobs in cybersecurity and larger firms are considered safer.
As for finance, the most recession-proof position is accounting and other niches. We wouldn’t consider all jobs in the sector safe, however. While many businesses will rely on financial experts to stay afloat, many companies unfortunately, become victims of a recession. Thus, you may hold a recession-safe job, but you may not work for a recession-safe company. Luckily, accountants can find great success in accounting firms and as consultants.
