More Job Cuts

If you picked up a Newspaper or turned on the television today you will have seen yet more news stories announcing job cuts from big firms. Today it was the turn of Jaguar Landrover (450 jobs), Barclays Bank (2,000) jobs and Grattan, the home shopping catalogue firm (1,000 jobs).

The pace of job losses seems to have accelerated since the start of the year, and it looks like it’s going to get worse over the coming months. So that got me thinking, what job sectors are likely to be the most recession proof.

It’s very clear to see that certain job sectors are suffering really badly at the moment, Banking and   to name a couple of the really obvious ones, but there must be some job sectors that are more resistant to the credit crunch and recession than others. I’m sure there will even be some niche job categories that will flourish during recession as consumer behaviour and spending habits change.

Top 5 Recession Proof Job Sectors

My research into this has revealed that some Job Sectors are indeed more recesion proof than others, here’s the top 5.

1.  
   

   

   Plumbing: There are over 30,000 unfilled plumbing vacancies in the UK are the moment. There seem to be two main reasons for this, firstly more school leavers than ever are going on to higher education which is has resulted in falling numbers of apprentices learniung a skilled trade. Secondly, Australia has lured away a lot of tradespeople who have abandoned the UK for a new life down under. Plumbers can charge as much as £85 call out fee and some earn in excess of £50,000 per year. The average salary is around £25-35,000.

2. IT: The UK’s IT industry is growing at five toeight times the national average and needs around 15,000 new entrants every year to meet current demand. Salaries in this sector have been fairing well as employers struggle to fill positions. The average salary is around £40,000 per annum.
3. Midwifery: The UK population is forecast to continue growing rapidly over the next 10 years and there are a high proportion of midwives due to retire over the next few years. According to the Royal College of Midwives, a further 10,000 new entrants are required to fill their places. Salaries range from around £19,000 for newly qualified midwives to £36,000 for senior roles.
4. Teaching: With 32,000 vacancies to fill each year and a 10% fall in applicants enrolling in teacher training during 2008, there is huge demand for teachers. The Government is even offering £5,000 ‘golden hellos’ to encourage more applicants. Newly qualified teachers can expect to earn up to £28,000 per year.
5. Public Relations: This one came as a bit of a surprise, but apparently  the media is becoming increasingly specialised and fragmented to the extent that organisations wishing to promote their brand are constantly looking for more cost-effective and targeted ways to get their message across. As such, sizeable chunks of an organisation’s advertising budget are being used for public relations campaigns. The UK PR industry is now worth over £6.5 bn and, with account directors typically earning £53,000 and more a year.

So that’s the Top 5 Recession Proof Job Sectors, look out for some follow up postings as I dig deeper into this and uncover those niche jobs and businesses that are most likely to flourish during recession.