So whats "recession proof" employment in your area?

1sttimemom · #61 07/21/13, 01:45 PM

Nursing (LPN, RN, or CNA). I am not saying it's the best job in the world but there are always openings it seems. Even this has been cut back some from a few yrs ago with wage freezes and occasional hour cuts and such. And let me tell ya...us LPN earn our keep!!! I worked in a rehab hospital when I was 1st out of school. I enjoyed it a lot and it gave me great experience. Now we live in a small town and there is much less available here. I work in nursing home, mostly doing the "skilled" rehab patients but also occasionally the long term care wings too. I will often have about 30 patients, many of whom are VERY sick, right out of hospital. We run our butts off and they give us a lot less staff support than we had a few yrs back. But it's decent pay and usually I can always find some overtime even if I am flexible on shifts I am willing to take. It is definitely HIGH STRESS!!!

I am lucky to work for a larger "chain" so I have decent (not great) healthcare benies. At one point I worked for a private owned nursing home a few yrs ago and the benies they offered were sooo high $$ nobody took them. Right now I pay about $450/mo for medical for a family of 4. It's expensive but not terrible. The private owned place was over $1000/mo and that was about 6 yrs ago! However, I have NO 401k match at all. And no retirement. All of those things have been cut over the yrs due to economy and profit margins, etc. The patients we get now tend to be sicker as hospitals churn them out way faster due to their own cutbacks. There are times it feels overwhelming and unsafe for the amount of patients vs staff. However, it feeds our family and keeps a roof over our heads.

mom25kiddles · #62 07/21/13, 06:37 PM

Donut makers!!! In my managerial accounting class, a group of us chose *donut shop* as our mock business for the semester. We were rolling in *dough*, pun fully intended, by the end of the semester. I've joked with my husband, through the ups and downs of both our small businesses, that if we would have just started that donut shop I wanted...

I honestly don't think there are any truly recession proof jobs. There are only recession proof people. A person who is more willing, motivated, flexible... and doesn't let pride dictate their choices and attitude... will do better during slim times, imho.

soulsurvivor · #63 07/21/13, 08:15 PM

This isn't a booming town but does manage to keep people working. Medical services, lawyers, insurance/real estate agents, anything connected to the bourbon industry, small specialized factories that employ engineers/etc, small town tourism industry, security/private prison employees, banks, farms are consolidating into larger corporate businesses, more than a few here drive to Louisville to work at the Ford plant or Georgetown to work at Toyota.

People that have jobs tend to work past retirement age to keep their jobs. Many work a 40 hr week and then work second jobs as tourism directors, home construction services, professional cleaners for business/church facilities. Teachers work past retirement if in good health. There are several small colleges nearby that also employ educators, food service personnel, maintenance staff. This area has a good workforce to choose from.

TJadeI · #64 07/21/13, 08:27 PM

I'm a chef and don't have any problem finding work. People will always need to eat. Even when it gets to the point that nobody knows how to cook anything and they eat their meals from a plastic tray from the microwave, those companies will still hire chefs and cooks to make that food before it goes in those plastic trays.

cwgrl23 · #65 07/22/13, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arabian knight

Independent car repair shop.
People are keeping their cars longer and have to get them repaired.
Also Auto Parts places.
Same thing goes for them, as people keeping their cars longer they need auto parts other then going to a dealership one.

I will disagree with you. I have my independent mechanic on speed dial these days. It seems both of our vehicles wanted some big new parts with in weeks of each other. He has been our go to guy for over 20 years. He said that anything made in 2007 or newer and it is extremely difficult or impossible for him to work on. New Fords now have to have transmission fluid from underneath. It takes a special pump and the fluid must be with in a 4 degree range for the valve to open up and allow more to be added. At this time, this pump is not available for him to buy as he is not a dealership. He said another brand is proto types with the oil this way as well. I don't remember which one. He fixed a problem on a newer car, fuel pump I think. Once it was all done, he couldn't reset the computer. He had to trailer it to the dealership so that they could reset her computer so it would read the new part. Although he has the computer system, he could not even buy the codes to fix her car. It cost $100 at the dealership to reset the computer plus the cost of hauling it and his time. So if you want to work for a dealership, awesome. Otherwise, you could be up the creak.

geo in mi · #66 07/22/13, 06:56 AM

Because we are in fruit country, perhaps, our little town of Paw Paw has two factories that have stayed pretty steady--a Coca-Cola plant that makes juice boxes for kids school lunches, etc--and Knause Foods, a farmers' co-op factory that processes two lines of apple sauce. Both are going strong and seem to have steady employment. On the other hand, Welchs, down the road in Lawton, has cut back, and is no longer packaging grape juice products; instead, the pressing is done here, then the juice is trucked to Rome, N. Y. and then processed in that plant.

We did have a Duo-Tang factory that made office products and hanging file folders---yep, they are no longer in business. Another, upstart Mophie, announced operations in a vacant warehouse in town--packaging the product, juice pack, a portable exta battery for the IPhone. Lotsa press about their committment to local business in Paw Paw, even took a community development grant, yada, yada--and about thirty cars were parked in the lot, signifying a big chunk of employment. Went by the other day, no cars. Mophie relocated to WMU research park where they could "take advantage" of innovative minds to compete better. I think they "took advantage" of Paw Paw.

There probably isn't anything that's truly recession-proof, so prudence tells us to always save for the rainy days and droughts ahead.

geo

fatrat · #67 07/22/13, 08:22 AM

In my area a job as congressman is recession proof. One or two terms in office can get you life time full retirement benefits and you always come out with millions of dollars more than you had going in even though you were never paid millions more. This always works in any economy.

fransean · #68 07/22/13, 10:18 AM

Individual workers can make themselves recession proof but each region is different on what employers make it.
I have not had any problems getting work, however I am flexible in what I am looking for. If there is not something available in my first choice then I would look for something else. So many people limit themselves on what they are used to doing for work that they are not even willing to consider a different path.

I have had conversations with friends and family that are out of work and say there are no jobs. Their comments usually are along the lines of............ "I only want a sales job, but not commission and not in retail" ..............ok, you are limiting yourself. Or "I will only take a job that makes as much as my old job did", again limiting yourself and getting your foot in the door somewhere can lead to other options.

HOTW · #69 07/22/13, 05:41 PM

Dog Grooming,, seems no one wants to groom their dogs!ANyone want to buy a biz? I want to move home!LOL not kidding either! Makes good money !