Which Jobs Are Doing Well?

While mortgage lenders and bankers may be suffering from a lack of work, certain jobs continue to thrive in the economic downturn. These jobs are not necessarily better to have, nor that they pay the most, for a variety of reasons, jobs in these sectors can be counted on to remain secure in a shaky economic environment. Jobs in education can be expected to be a safe bet indefinitely. In an interview in Time Magazine, Laurence Shatkin, who just wrote a book called 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs, pointed out that, "people have to send their kids to school no matter what the economic conditions are. Post-secondary education tends to be a pretty secure place to be too. People will ride out recession by going back to school." The career website Jobfox.com also produced a list of the most "recession-proof" jobs. The list was ordered by the number of monthly openings for each job between November of 2007 and July of 2008. The professions with the highest rankings were sales representatives, jobs in software design and development, nursing, accounting executive and staff, and networking and systems administration. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost half of the 30 fastest growing occupations are in health care services. The demand for nurses is particularly high. Kathleen Potempa, Dean of the University of Michigan School of Nursing commented that, "the long term perspective for nursing is excellent; factors such as the aging of the population and expansion of health discoveries, bode for an increase in demand for high qualified nurses…In general most area health systems have expansion plans including new facilities that will expand manpower needs over the next several years." In another interview with Time Magazine, John Challenger, CEO of the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas predicted that, "It looks like we're going to go into more of a regulatory environment, so that will help accountants and lawyers." Challenger reminded people that, "Crime doesn't stop during a recession, and police officers, port security specialists and international security experts will continue to be in demand." He also pointed out that, "If you have a strong knowledge of other cultures, and an ability to work in another country, you'll find plenty of opportunities," abroad in fields such as international business. Challenger also expects jobs in both energy and the environmental sector to be in high demand. "[Energy] is a major issue for the global economy, and jobs related to oil and gas, alternative energy and even nuclear are likely to see strong growth," Challenger said. With Obama's promise to create 5 million "green collar" jobs within the next ten years, it looks as if jobs in sustainability will be abundant. The economist Paul Krugman has observed that different regions of the U.S. are experiencing the recession quite differently. Thus far, the worst of the crisis is being felt in what he refers to as a "Slump Belt," where manufacturing centers running from the industrial Midwest and South into the Carolinas.

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