100% recession-proof job.

There’s no such thing as a 100% recession-proof job. Recessions sometimes strike jobs in unexpected ways, depending on the cause of the recession and the local impact.

That said, some jobs remain far safer than others in an economic downturn.

While many classic recession-resistant jobs require an advanced degree, such as medical doctors, other jobs don’t even require a college degree. Some recession-resistant jobs let you work from anywhere, whether you want to work from home or travel the world.

1. Medical Professionals

People get sick whether gross domestic product (GDP) grows or shrinks. In fact, during a recession, stress factors increase, and public health in general often suffers more.

That means health care workers like doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, medical technicians, and hospital administrators remain mostly untouched by recessions. That extends to nonmedical workers who work for health care facilities, such as receptionists, janitors, and public-relations officers.

The one exception to this rule lies in elective medical service providers, such as cosmetic surgeons. In a recession, fewer people opt for facelifts or tummy tucks.

Dentists, orthodontists, and other dental workers sometimes see a reduction in appointments too. Many insurance plans don’t cover dentistry, so some patients skip their six-month cleaning and return after a year instead. Still, dental professionals tend to see less recessionary impact than many other industries.

2. Physical & Occupational Therapists

Similarly, physical and occupational therapy are part of the treatment for many ailments and the recovery process for most surgical procedures. Most comprehensive health insurance policies cover at least some of the costs, and these treatments aren’t optional.

While physical and occupational therapists often see a slight decline in demand as cash-strapped patients postpone elective surgeries or treatments, their jobs and income remain far more insulated than most in a recession.

3. Mental Health & Substance Abuse Professionals

On the one hand, many people halt their twice-a-week therapy sessions if their spouse loses their job. On the other, stress levels skyrocket during recessions, causing more mental health problems, more marital problems, and more substance abuse problems, according to a 2016 study published in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment.

That means counselors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and substance abuse workers stay in strong demand, even in recessions.

Those who specialize in more elective treatments, such as hypnotherapy, may need to lower their rates to maintain regular business. But don’t believe for a second that substance abuse clinics or psychiatric units see fewer patients during a recession.

In times of high stress, people suffer. And we all react differently to that suffering. Some endure panic attacks, others anxiety disorders. Some take it out on their spouses, while others turn to drugs and alcohol.

So mental health and substance abuse professionals stay busy during recessions.

4. Social Workers

Likewise, social workers see no shortage of demand when the economy tanks.

Social workers ultimately help people cope with their problems. When families become stressed, child abuse rates can rise. Child behavioral problems increase, as do adult behavioral and emotional issues.

Since most social workers operate in the public sector, which doesn’t see wild employment swings even during recessions, social workers prove doubly protected.

5. Senior Care Providers

Just as people still get sick during recessions, they still age too. Not all can age in place safely and comfortably, and even those who can often require at-home help.

Others have no choice but to move into an assisted living facility. Regardless of their housing arrangement, they still need elder care, recession or no.

These workers include nurses, orderlies, cleaners, cooks, and other support staff members. Their jobs remain relatively immune to the movement of the economy.

6. Hospice Workers

The same goes for hospice workers. Beyond traditional elder care, hospice care keeps the dying comfortable as they approach the end of their lives.

It’s a specialized form of care and takes a particular type of person to administer it. But no one postpones their departure from this world based on economic conditions, which means that in periods of both growth and contraction, the world needs hospice workers.

7. Funeral Workers

And since people die whether GDP grows at 10% or plummets 5%, they still need caskets or urns, burial plots or cremation, funerals and wakes.

While family members may choose less expensive options during recessions, they can’t forego funerals entirely. As Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.”

8. Accountants & Auditors

In good times and bad, everyone needs to file a tax return.

True, they can prepare their tax return themselves using tax return software like TaxAct or TurboTax. But many taxpayers risk making mistakes that cost more in higher taxes than the cost of hiring an accountant — or worse, mistakes that trigger an audit.

Auditors too see consistent demand during recessions. And not just IRS auditors, either. Publicly traded companies undergo frequent audits and must file quarterly financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Financial regulations don’t go away during recessions, so neither does demand for auditors.

9. Actuaries

Actuaries help businesses analyze risk. And during times of economic crisis, risk weighs more heavily than ever on both private companies’ and government agencies’ minds.

Some actuaries work with companies to review efficiency and the best places to cut spending with minimal financial and employment consequences for the company. Others work with insurers to help them understand the risk of benefit payouts compared to premium pricing.

Most remain in high demand, even when the economy takes a turn for the worse.

10. Insurance Providers, Underwriters, & Appraisers

Yes, insurance companies see a dip in demand during recessions. With fewer people employed, fewer people end up having health insurance and life insurance.

But most people keep their jobs and their insurance policies. Even while unemployed, many families prioritize health insurance as a mandatory expense.

And homeowners with a mortgage must maintain homeowners insurance as a condition of the loan. They don’t have a choice but to keep it.

The same goes for car owners. To legally drive a car, you must maintain at least liability coverage in case you hit someone else.

That means insurance agents, underwriters, and other insurance professionals keep writing policies in recessions. Claim adjusters and appraisers also stay busy — in fact, during times of hardship, policyholders sometimes file a claim when they otherwise might have paid out of pocket to avoid premium hikes.

11. Firefighters, Fire Inspectors & Investigators

Fires happen regardless of economic activity. In fact, when buildings sit vacant — as happens more frequently in recessions — they fall under higher risk of fires, as do surrounding buildings, per a 2012 study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A 2018 study by the National Fire Protection Association found that from 2003 to 2015, vacant building fires peaked in 2008 and gradually declined thereafter, particularly in the real estate recovery period after 2012. The same study noted that fully half of all vacant building fires are started intentionally.

Because of that, in times of economic downturn, firefighters and other fire-related individuals, such as inspectors and investigators, stay busy.

12. Law Enforcement

From beat cops to detectives, CSIs to sergeants, federal agents and beyond, law enforcement workers don’t stop fighting crime during downturns.

As public workers, they remain somewhat buffered from layoffs. But they also stay employed because no one wants a spike in crime to add insult to the injury of a recession.

In the 20th century, evidence showed a clear correlation between economic conditions and crime rates. Young men often see the highest unemployment rates during recessions, according to a United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics analysis of the years 2007 through 2009. That leaves them with a surplus of time and a dearth of money.

Yet the Great Recession actually bucked that trend, with data sources showing a decrease in crime rates, according to an overview by the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice.

Regardless of the sociological impact of recessions, law enforcement officers don’t lose their jobs.

13. Corrections Workers

Similarly, corrections workers such as corrections officers, parole boards, and probation officers don’t see layoffs during recessions.

Prisoners don’t walk free just because GDP drops. Jails and prisons operate as usual, and everyone who works there continues doing so.

14. Judiciary Workers

The courts stay open too. That goes for both criminal and civil courts, and everyone who works in them.

Workers from clerks to judges to bailiffs to sheriffs to bail bond agents to bounty hunters all keep working as usual. So do the satellite services that cater to them, such as paid parking lots and lunch cafes.

In a rare exception to this rule, the coronavirus-caused COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 shuttered some court proceedings. But that was caused by the public health crisis, not the ensuing economic crisis.

Public health emergencies aside, the courts stay open rain or shine.

15. Public Utility Workers

No matter the economy, everyone still needs utility services like electricity, natural gas, water, sewer service, telephones, and Internet.

Local governments operate some of these providers directly. Others operate privately with a state-sanctioned monopoly, but the government regulates them all aggressively. In nearly all cases, providers don’t compete in the traditional market sense. And even if they did, they don’t see much reduction in usage.

So technicians, customer service reps, and administrators all generally keep their jobs during downturns.

16. Long-Term Real Estate Investors

While house flippers may have trouble finding buyers during a recession, long-term investors often find great buying opportunities. With fewer buyers but plenty of distressed sellers, they can score great deals on investment properties. You can search for properties on the MLS or through websites like Roofstock.

Landlords sometimes struggle during recessions, as tenant default rates rise. Contrary to popular opinion, landlords hate evicting tenants — it’s the most expensive outcome for them, involving months of unpaid rent, costly turnover-related repairs, and marketing expenses in filling vacancies.

Rather uniquely, landlords face a singular risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) banned evictions nationwide, and while they also halted foreclosures among the HUD, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac mortgages, most landlords finance their properties through other means (such as portfolio loans). As such, landlords have no recourse if their tenants default, but they can’t default on their mortgages, so they get stuck paying for their tenants to live for free.

But for investors looking to buy up properties at bargain prices, recessions present an excellent opportunity. The trick is to keep the cash flowing until the economy normalizes: consider buying rent default insurance through companies like Rent Rescue to weather the recession.

17. Marketers (Who Can Document Results)

Traditional attitudes toward marketing go like this: For every dollar spent, companies expect to see more than a dollar returned in higher revenues.

Mediocre marketers suffer during recessions, as companies look for costs to cut. But any marketer who can prove their results keeps their job.

It’s an easy conversation to imagine. “I make you money. You spent $100,000 on my marketing budget last year, and for that cost, my campaigns generated $150,000 in revenue for you. Not only should you keep me, but you should double my marketing budget to boost your earnings further.”

18. Educators

Kids don’t stop going to school because of recessions. Neither do college and graduate students, for that matter.

In fact, colleges and graduate schools see higher enrollment rates during recessions, according to Stanford economist Caroline Hoxby’s research from the 1960s through the Great Recession. With fewer job openings, particularly for those without degrees, young adults tend to postpone their entry into the job market by enrolling in higher education.

Teachers, professors, school administrators, athletic coaches, researchers, and support staff like groundskeepers all tend to have safe jobs during downturns. Schools make excellent sanctuaries during turbulent times — for students and employees alike.

That said, most schools and universities closed during the coronavirus outbreak, and many won’t return for the rest of the school year. Salaried employees such as teachers and administrators continued earning paychecks, however.

19. Pharmacists & Pharmacy Technicians

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs continue flowing, regardless of the economy. People who need heart medication to avoid cardiac failure tend to prioritize it over other expenses, for example.

And for every person who stops taking Viagra because they can’t afford it, someone else requires anxiety medication to get through the stress of the recession.

Pharmaceuticals are entrenched in modern life, and people will find a way to get their drugs — legal or otherwise — even during times of hardship. Perhaps especially during times of hardship.

20. IT Workers

Networks, databases, websites, and communications all still need to operate around the clock. While information technology is an enormous umbrella field, most workers remain in demand, even in recession.

That includes computer systems analysts, network administrators, data analysts, database engineers, programmers and developers, website designers, project managers, and hundreds of other specialists. The Internet must go on.

Still, some tech workers may find their job at increased risk of offshoring during a recession. They should prepare an argument for why their job should remain local and what they bring to the table in higher efficiency and skill compared to cheaper overseas alternatives.

21. Grocers

If anything, people buy more groceries during recessions since they eat fewer meals out at restaurants.

Those groceries may include lower-cost items, like chicken breasts instead of New York strip steaks, but everyone needs to eat. Grocery stores tend to weather economic storms intact.

The same pattern holds with alcohol spending. Fewer people blow money at the bar, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they stop drinking. They simply buy their booze at the grocery store or liquor store. In fact, 2015 research from the State University of New York at Buffalo suggests that many people drank more as a coping mechanism for stress during the Great Recession.

Pro tip: An alternative to working in a grocery store would be to deliver groceries through an app like Instacart. You’ll be able to set your own hours and get paid to deliver the food people need.

22. Veterinarians

As with health care workers, people’s pets still get sick and injured during recessions. But since most people don’t carry pet health insurance, pet health care does dip in recessions.

While vets should expect reduced patronage, most maintain more than enough business to stay in practice, even during recessions. A 2009 survey conducted at the height of the Great Recession by the Veterinary Information Network found that nearly half of vet practices — 45% — actually saw an uptick in volume rather than a decline. They concluded that veterinarians weather recessions far better than most professions.

23. Divorce Attorneys, Mediators, & Arbitrators

Evidence remains mixed about divorce rates during recessions. Hardship may keep some couples together but split others apart amid crushing financial stress. For example, one 2012 Great Recession study by the University of Maryland didn’t find an overall spike in divorces but did find that divorce rates rose among college-educated couples in areas with high foreclosure rates.

But couples certainly don’t stop getting divorced during recessions. That leaves no shortage of work for divorce attorneys, mediators, and arbitrators during downturns.

24. Bankruptcy Attorneys

Sadly, bankruptcy filings do spike during recessions. That means abundant work for bankruptcy attorneys.

For anyone unfortunate enough to endure a bankruptcy, the silver lining is that the damage is both limited and temporary, and they can undoubtedly rebuild their finances and their credit after being discharged.

25. Auto Mechanics & Body Shops

While car owners may try to postpone elective repairs during downturns, many (even most) auto repairs don’t fall under that category.

You can’t drive without brake pads or a transmission. You might skip a $30 regular tune-up, but you can’t skip major repairs that prevent your car from driving safely and legally.

Indeed, many owners of older cars opt to keep fixing them rather than buying a new vehicle during recessions. Older cars need frequent repairs, but they’re still usually cheaper than the alternative of a hefty new purchase.

Plus, people still get into accidents. So both mechanical and body repair shops continue to get work.

26. Librarians & Archivists

Most librarians and archivists work in the public sector and find their jobs relatively safe, even during recessions.

In today’s world, libraries provide far more free services than simply lending books. Many offer technology classes for low-income families and free computer and Internet usage and lend out videos, audiobooks, and sometimes other forms of entertainment and education, such as video games.

Many also offer free or extremely cheap workstations and conference rooms, filling the same niche as coworking spaces.

Far from becoming obsolete, libraries continue to evolve and fill a crucial need in our communities.

27. Public Transit Workers

In times of recession, more people than ever rely on public transportation. That creates job safety for those who provide it.

From bus drivers to train conductors to ticket sellers and beyond, public transit workers remain as safe as anyone when the economy shrinks.

Final Word

Recessions are painful, and few people can claim immunity. No one knows this better than those out of work and looking for a job.

Still, some professions — such as jobs in construction and finance — get hit harder than others during a recession. Others manage to escape largely unscathed.

If you worry your job’s days are numbered or you’ve already lost your job, look to the professions above as relative safe havens during times of trouble. While not recession-proof, they certainly keep far more robust demand than most during downturns.

Do you foresee trouble on the horizon for your industry? What do you plan to do to fortify your job security?