As more and more companies are looking to downsize, offshore and cut costs in order to make Wall Street happy, I am starting to wonder what industries are still safe for job seekers who want to find a company for life. Is that a non-existent dream?
6-7 years ago I thought it would mostly affect white-collar tech jobs. Any job that could be done remotely. Then you saw it start to move into the areas of HR, Finance, etc... all being outsourced. Then you read about research facilities and lab folks being outsourced. And what the heck about the rumor(?) of fast food places outsourcing their drive-thru people???
What do you guys think are the best industries to go into for new hires coming out into the workforce? I get asked this question, and I have a hard time coming up with a good answer.
POST A COMMENTBPFH(03/18/2008)
The reason you have a hard time coming up with a good answer to that question is that there is NO good answer, not if your primary objective is an industry with job security.
Most companies I've encountered still talk like they want you to be loyal, but they've forgotten that to GET loyalty, you have to GIVE it, too.
the confessor(03/18/2008)
The best job security is to always have other options readily available.
In the current climate, businesses of all types have been known to lay off. drive out, or fire employees, then call them a month later demanding help to solve a problem (at no pay, of course). It happened to me...
Having other options allowed me to tell them to take a hike, and hear them say "what kind of professional are you?"
THE KIND YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T NEED SIX WEEKS AGO, PIHNEAD!!
Now, that's security...
BonusOnus(03/18/2008)
To echo the Confessor, the best job security is a good job market -- or an employment contract, which isn't usually given to people who aren't in upper mgmt.
However, there will be jobs that will have better job security than others. These will be jobs that cannot be easily "outsourced" or offshored to India or China. I won't count government jobs - they are harder to outsource because of citizenship requirements (but hey, who knows with this government?)
You can't outsource a cashier's job to China. Or a janitor's job. Or a doctor's job. Or an auto mechanic's job. These are the jobs that will probably provide some job security. Most are not high paying. But there are some blue-collar jobs that will afford a good wage. Plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics to name a few.
There is a demographic bubble and when the Baby Boomers retire, there will be a lot of blue collar jobs that will need to be filled. There will be white collar jobs too but I have a feeling that companies will do a Bill Gates and scream that they can't get enough "qualified Americans" to fill these jobs and they have to import H1Bs or L1Bs.
The good thing is that H1B/L1B visas are for "highly skilled" (ie white collar) workers and can't easily be used for blue collar worker transfers.
Dumber than a Catbox full of sh*t(03/18/2008)
There is job security in auto mechanics--providing you can live with the crappy pay--I've been married to an auto tech who is Master Certified with an L1 who made 30K last year--and I love having to pay $250.00 per month for tools. It is a crap job that pays crap. And I'm really enjoying how my husband had knee surgery last Wed. and in 6-8 weeks will have knee surgery again on the other knee. There is no paid leave--the whole financial responsibility is on me. We have health insurance under my job--if we had it under his job it would cost $3600.00 per year. It is a crap job. The most a mechanic ever makes is $25.00/hr. and those jobs are usually commission jobs. My husband is having knee surgery as a result of being in this trade for 25 years.
Dumber than a Catbox full of sh*t(03/18/2008)
My brother-in-law, on the other hand is a plumber who made $96K last year.
CK(03/18/2008)
Secure jobs are mostly in the area(s) where people need the most. They are Pharmaceuticals, Doctors/Nurses, Morticians.
People will need drugs, people will need doctors and nurses to care for them (but they may H1b those as well) , and people die!
BonusOnus(03/18/2008)
I doubt doctors will be H1B'd. For a couple of reasons. If you are some doctor from India with the best training/experience India has to offer, you still have to pass the bar to get your license.
2) Doctors have the AMA. It's a trade union, just like the ABA, the NEA, and prison guard association. They keep competition out. The AMA has not accredited a new medical school since 1972 IIRC and got in trouble because they made the certification tests harder for immigrant doctors than those who came out of American medical schools.
Now nurses might happen too but again, these jobs require some form of certification. And they have a union.
Hmm...maybe IT folks should require certification and form a union...
Your husband works for an auto shop. They tend to try to keep wages down because their profit is whatever they charge the customer minus whatever they pay him. It sounds like your husband is a 1099 contractor or something.
I have a mechanic who runs his own shop. He doesn't do a lot of business because he's overwhelmed. He charges $75/hour for basic stuff. Still cheaper than the $120/hour I would be charged at the dealership. He makes a good living but he depends on repeat business and having a solid reputation. he doesn't try to rip customers off trying to fix things that they really don't need. I've seen other auto shops do that, especially to women.
CK(03/18/2008)
I didn't mean H1b the doctors but the nurses! There is a shortage of nurses here. There isn't a shortage of nursing students or wanta-be nurses. The issue is that there is a shortage of nursing professors - thus they can only teach a limited number of students.
The reason there is a shortage of nursing professors is because nurses can make more money nursing and not teaching. So in the infident wisdom of politicians (corporate politicians as well) they have figured that it is far better to H1b the nurses instead of attracting more nursing professors with better pay!
It is my understanding that there is NO shortage of people wanting to be nurses just limit in class size.
IF they decide to open up the H1b for nurses the concern from nurses is that they will see lower wages. If there is a way to outsource, offshore, or any way to drive the cost of labor down coporate execs will see to it! Even at the expense of the American worker, the family and their health!
The tariff walls that were to protect us and raise the standard of living in other countries have fallen down and blown away like dust in the wind. In it place we have corporate greed and gluttony.
The rich can afford the best doctors, their children can go to the best schools while the peasants and serfs scrounge for table scraps that have fallen from their masters table - thanking them.
twiz(03/18/2008)
My brother worked in the Pharmaceuticals industry as a research scientist. They offshored all their drug research and shutdown his facility. So erase that one from the safe list... ;-)
labtech(03/19/2008)
BonusOnus,
You -can- outsource a cashier's job. Look at all the self-service stations in places like Home Depot, ticket booths, and grocery stores, where you ring up your purchases yourself. You can also outsource janitors - I AM the janitor where I work, even though I'm working in science, I have to sweep and mop the floors, wash the counters, etc. You can hire foreign doctors, scientists, engineers, technicians to come in for a H1B/L1B visa and pay them less - look around at the biotech companies, and see how many born-and-bred Americans are working there. I am an American citizen - educated - and it took me 6 years to find a job for my degree - and I have experience. There are plenty of qualified Americans, but companies figure that the Americans will stick around and (gasp) collect a pension, while the foreigners are essentially disposable workers.
You can even outsource sewage and water treatment - to private companies who pay their workers just about minimum wage. Soon we'll see the big-chain auto-repair places rising up, and you'll need to speak another language besides English to explain what's wrong with your car...which you might not need anyway, because you don't have a job to drive to anymore.
DepressionIIiscoming(03/19/2008)
I agree nothing is safe. I am taking my retirement out and most of my money out of the banks, we are headed for a major market correction. The times ahead do not look good, or safe. Unemployment is going to soar so being out of work, you will have more company than you thought but this time around people will be a little more violent. The rich will not escape harm. When the "peasants" get desperate enough for food, the shear numbers of them will be enough to take down the rich and eat their precious little crotch fruit. Eat the rich! As gas prices soar, more and more people will tighten their belt using less and less fuel. The Saudi's have signed their own contracts on their own demise. China will be affected too, if everyone over here is out of work, no one will buy the cheap sh!t they ship over here anyways! Best wishes to everyone, if I were you I would hiding money under my mattress and stop paying your credit cards completely. Screw them over before they screw you! Find a good cardboard box and find a nice place out in the woods you can squat in until this all blows over.
Rosse(03/19/2008)
Looking for a company to work for life is out of the question. Years ago that was the case, but over the last (who knows how many years)... companies found a way to save money. Retired the veterans, lay off anyone about to hit the 10 year mark and hire college grads who will do intership for free.
HaveADamnNiceDay(03/19/2008)
There is another reason there is a shortage of Nurses: The doctors treat them all like crap. I'm pretty certain alot of them have gone on to either work at schools, quit and work from home doing something else, or seek new occupations alltogether. Alot of them don't want to deal with the trickle-down nonsense that the docs give them.
I also agree that NO ONE is safe from the greed of ANY American company. Whatever will save them a buck, they will try and do it, even if it means more work for their employees and wasted time. It's really sad that there are no companies that can have 'lifetime' employees any more. My father-in-law just retired from a large insurance company, and he'd worked there 30 years. I doubt that there will be many more like him in the future, and none at all when my generation reaches retirement age (gen Y). I suspect that there will be an ever-growing gap between upper and lower classes, and someday the middle class might be eliminated entirely. We're on our way back to the dark ages of lords and serfs. I guess we should all get our pitchforks and torches, huh?
SouthernProgrammer(03/19/2008)
Probably the most security you can find in a white collar job would be in the area of geriatrics. As the baby-boomers age, this field is booming. The most security in a blue collar job would probably be plumbing, everyone has to use the bathroom at some point!
randomfrog(03/19/2008)
......................
"Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak up for me"
A previous entry mentioned that IT employees should organize a strong association. It would be safer for us if they did.
I would compare it to the time when the truckers' unions were strong and the drivers were the kings and cowboys of the roads. Deliveries were safe and did not spoil within days of storage.
As I said I would feel safer using technology and knowing that the IT person on the other end of the super highway is as interested in getting the message there instead of snooping and selling it in other countries.
Am I mistaken in considering the IT workers the truckers on the information highway?
Gene Stallman(03/20/2008)
Why don't you try work from home job?
What a great feeling tell your Boss where to stick it:)
www.bizfrominternet.com
CK(03/20/2008)
TO Walking Shoes - The organization is called WashTech.org
Catbox(03/21/2008)
BonusOnus--wrong--my husband is an auto tech for a huge, nationwide chain. My b-in-law plumber is now spending more and more time doing side jobs because of the home-building stoppage. They call it "sitting on the bench" when there is no work and they are waiting for an okay on a contract they are bidding. Teaching can be a lifetime career--not for 38and a half years to get full pension (which is not 100% of your salary but 75%), but no one can do this kind of job for this long anymore. The parents, kids and admin. are too crappy. I see young people come in and before their first year is over they get out or plan that they will stay no longer than 3-5 years. We have student teachers who come in and quit anywhere between their 1st day and the 3rd week. The job isn't attractive to young people. But if you have brass balls and nerves of steel it is good for a while.
dontask 0 (03/21/2008)
Electricians?
Catwoman(05/02/2008)
Go and work for the federal government. You can be ignorant, uneducated and lazy, and NEVER be fired, get a good salary and great benefits. JOB security.
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