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By Richard Evans
As unemployment soars to its highest mark in over a decade, more and more of us are wondering how safe our job is. If you are one of the 2.38m people now out of work, and are unlikely to find the same type of work again, a career change will be forced on you. Many of us, on the other hand, will welcome the opportunity to try something new. But which are the safest career choices at a time of economic slowdown? A recent report by the UK's largest recruitment company, Hays, has the answers. It has outlined 10 sectors which offer the greatest security in the current climate. It should also give all you job-hunters out there some much needed room for optimism. 1. Education Children still need to go to school in a recession, and their numbers don't decline in line with economic output. So teachers should enjoy good job security during a downturn. A massive shortage of science, maths and head teachers makes the sector a safe bet. New schools being built are also giving construction companies a boost. "While manufacturing and service industries can always reduce staff numbers as their workload falls, demand doesn't fall in schools during a recession so there is less scope for shedding employees," says a spokesman for the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). "That's that's not to say there is never any room for cost-cutting, though," he adds. 2. Health and Social Care As with education, the demand for doctors, social and healthcare workers is undiminished, regardless of the economic climate. And the Government doesn't want to make unemployment worse by cutting jobs in essential services. According to the Labour Market Report, the sector grew for the twelfth month running in June. "This Government is committed to keeping unemployment down and therefore health, education and social services will continue to hire," says Michael Moran, the chief executive of Fairplace, an "outplacement" agency that helps employers find jobs for redundant employees. 3. Social and "green" housing This sector requires accountants, builders and housing officers, as the Government steps up it commitment to creating affordable housing. Similarly, public funds are to pumped into environmentally friendly projects - the mass insulation of Britain's housing stock was recently proposed - as a means of boosting the economy and cutting carbon dioxide emissions. 4. Accountants/finance directors/compliance officers In the wake of the financial crisis, closer supervision of banks is the order of the day. These are some of the professionals whose services are more in demand in a downturn, as companies pull out all the stops to survive, or as failed firms are wound up or sold on. "Accountants with insolvency skillsets are much sought after at present," says Mr Moran, "as are finance directors with experience of restructuring debt for companies in danger of breaching their agreements with their lenders." Compliance/risk officers are another good example, he adds: "With the widespread awareness that excessive risk-taking got banks - and so the wider economy - into their current difficulties, companies are stepping up their efforts to monitor potentially disastrous transactions and to comply with the tighter regulations that the financial crisis is bringing." 5. Internal audit For the same reason, internal auditors are in demand as companies attempt to reign in their spending. Hays adds that this sector will come out on top when companies start hiring once more. 6. Insurance In times of downturn, consumers look to protect themselves against hardship by increasing the amount of insurance cover they buy. This is accompanied by a surge in claims activity, much of which is fraudulent. As a result, there is demand for employees across the sector: especially in claims handling, underwriting and business development. Senior staff are also required - good news for any former big earners out there. 7. Credit control and Purchasing As companies, desperate to see money flowing in to the coffers, focus increasingly on late payments of outstanding bills, expertise in this area is highly sought after. Similarly, with profits margins under pressure, improving the efficiency of the supply chain has seen demand for staff responsible for purchasing and procurement soar - both in the private and public sector. 8. Energy Britain needs a new tranche of power stations to replace ageing nuclear plants and the most polluting fossil-fuel-burning facilities. If building doesn't start soon, the country is expected to face blackouts within a few years. Those who get jobs as engineers, say, working on one of these projects are probably safe until it is complete - and they often last many years. 9. IT Information technology specialists remain much sought after, says Mr Moran. "Typically, the more specialised the skill, the better," he says, "with the proviso that it's a skill in demand. The fear of all specialists is that the market moves and they find themselves unemployable." And, as with the examples above, the sector in which you are working is as important as the job you do. For example, an IT specialist is likely to have better job security working for the NHS than in a bank. 10. Public transport projects If you're working for a contractor on a new road or railway, for example, you are in the private sector - but the money being spent still comes from the Government, not the consumer. And again, the budgets tend to be made available in advance. So jobs such as this tend to be safe - at least for the duration of the project. The Government may put more resources into this kind of programme to take up the spare capacity in the economy that occurs in a recession. Useful links: |
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