5 ways to make your career recession-resistant
Written by Robert Strohmeyer
Reviewed by Jessica Roper, MBA,聽director of Career Services at 七色视频
Often considered a relatively safe, high-demand industry, the tech sector has been hit hard by the recent economic changes impacting the U.S.聽With more than 164,000 layoffs in 2022 and 170,000 lost in the first three months of 2023, according to聽, many tech workers are feeling considerably less secure and looking for ways to shore up their career paths against roller-coaster market trends.聽
Whether you鈥檙e currently out of work or just looking for recession-resistant jobs, there are several ways you can help improve your chances of聽maintaining your position聽when the market is down. Here are five of them.
1. Look for hardy sectors
Some industries are simply less recession-proof than others, and as the markets shift, it鈥檚 not always the same sectors that weather a recession best. But over the years, several industries have tended to remain resilient.
At the top of the list of recession-resistant jobs are healthcare, utilities, government, education and consumer staples like grocery services.聽These sectors are essential in good times and bad, and聽don鈥檛 depend on buyer optimism.
Other opportunities can be harder to spot in advance but demonstrate similar essential-services traits. For instance, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people mostly stayed home, mobile apps, online entertainment, games and home education all boomed. The takeaway is that聽meeting people鈥檚 needs pays, even when the market is uncertain.
2. Identify perennial roles
While working in a recession-resistant industry helps, it鈥檚 also a good idea to seek roles that are more likely to weather economic storms.
Notable industries聽include healthcare, government and education. These industries tend to be , according to a recent CNBC article, and encompass a wide range of roles from teachers to law enforcement.
Beware of roles that can easily fold into the responsibilities of an adjacent function, such as social media management or brand marketing. Jobs like these can be important to a company in good times but look like nice-to-haves when a business is cutting back during a recession. If another team can do what you do, your job may be first on the chopping block.
3. Learn how to identify company red flags
When you鈥檙e evaluating job opportunities, always remember that you鈥檙e interviewing the interviewer and should do your best to spot any red flags. In particular, do your homework on sites like聽听补苍诲听聽to check for聽signs of high turnover聽(particularly executive turnover) or a聽history of layoffs, which are signs of聽instability in the company.
If you鈥檙e in tech, the site聽, which tracks startups, funding rounds and press releases of companies big and small, is one resource for understanding how a company is performing, how much capital it鈥檚 taken in and whether the leadership team is stable.
In an interview, even if you鈥檙e not in sales, it鈥檚 best to聽ask about the company鈥檚 revenue performance. Has the business been meeting its targets? Are the sales reps making their numbers? Are other employees consistently achieving their bonus criteria? If your interviewer squirms in response to any of these questions, you should dig deeper to understand why.
4. Differentiate your role
When layoffs loom, businesses look for redundancies in their workforce. In fact, in some countries, the word聽redundancies聽is a euphemism for what we in the U.S. call layoffs. The best way to avoid becoming a redundancy is to聽avoid redundant roles.
Regardless of a company鈥檚 size, you can test for redundancy during your interview process. Ask the hiring manager how many other people in the organization have the same function, and how many other departments do the same things. If you鈥檙e being hired to聽expand capacity for an existing role, you can be let go if demand for that function drops during an economic downturn.
Even if you鈥檙e one of several people doing the same thing, you can look for ways to expand your role to fill key needs for the business. Taking on important specialized tasks that others aren鈥檛 performing can help differentiate you from the pack and help with job security. Just be sure you鈥檙e taking on聽specialization that鈥檚 essential rather than novel (and that you鈥檙e valued accordingly for that skill set or knowledge). It鈥檚 a lot harder to let go of the account manager who鈥檚 proven uniquely able to manage the toughest account than the one who has taken on organizing the company picnics.
5. Optimize for adaptability
Jobs come and go, but聽adaptable people are always in demand. Develop skill sets that will serve you in any job, and always be learning. In a topsy-turvy market, a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none but often better than a master of one.
Relationship management聽skills (both internally and externally) and聽project management聽skills go a long way regardless of your industry or job function. Demonstrating highly versatile skills can be a shield of immunity when management is looking at whom to cut.
Complacency, on the other hand, begets risk, and those who count on things staying the same are most vulnerable to change. Strengthen your position by reading your industry鈥檚 trade periodicals and聽spotting innovation and trends. Integrate聽continuing education聽into your lifestyle, taking courses in new or emerging skill sets. Take on challenging projects and ask your employer to fund relevant training to develop your skills in ways that advance the company鈥檚 interests.
While no amount of training and skill development can totally shield you from a round of layoffs when a recession occurs, developing an adaptable mindset and building highly transferable skills can ensure that even if you do lose your job, you鈥檒l be better prepared to look for a new one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Strohmeyer is a serial entrepreneur and executive with more than 30 years of experience starting and running companies. He has served in leadership roles at three successful software startups over the past decade, and his writing on business and technology has appeared in such publications as Wired, PCWorld, Forbes, Executive Travel, Smart Business, Businessweek and many others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Jessica Roper, 七色视频 director of Career Services, is a seasoned leader with over 15 years of experience in leadership within higher education. She has honed her expertise in student services and career development and is passionate about helping others discover and refine their skills.
This article has been vetted by 七色视频's editorial advisory committee.聽
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