
Ask HN: Industries to consider as a developer to weather the next recession? - ed_at_work
I&#x27;m currently on the job market, and one of the things on my mind is I&#x27;d like to pick a company that may survive the next economic collapse. All signs seem to point to an upcoming large correction to this bubble economy, and I&#x27;d hate to be laid off because of it.<p>Does anybody consider how &quot;recession proof&quot; their job may be? Any thoughts on what industries to look towards for better job security? Obviously a lot of startups and investor backed companies are probably not a safe bet.<p>Thoughts?
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raquo
If that is your priority, go with whatever not-obviously-risky company that
wants to pay you the most money, and save up for when the recession eventually
comes. Bonus points: buy up undervalued assets during the recession, subject
to your risk tolerance.

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ian0
Not very lucrative jobs in general but perhaps something within education?
Typically subsidised and higher level sometimes sees an increase in applicants
during a downturn.

Recently I met with the head of IT for a large high school and it honestly
seemed like a cool job. They were building a bunch platforms. Apps for
parents, auto-debit functionality for school fees, access control & remote
learning functionality. Plus general digitisation of the school operations.

Id recommend a soundproofed office though :P

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rahimnathwani
Why are they building all these things themselves?

Thousands of schools have exactly the same operating model and the same needs.
Is there no one offering solutions off the shelf? Even for billing and
payments?

It seems crazy that each school would need to build their own.

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pete27
(I work in higher ed IT) If you're a small school, with most of your income
from teaching, COTS solutions can indeed work well.

But if most of your money comes from research, things can get interesting
quickly. Research usually means high diversity, with the requirement for
speed. This is fun. I wouldn't change my job easily.

Typically, uni's outsource <10% of their IT. Higher ed is not a very big or
profitable market segment. Regulatory and compliance requirements can differ
wildly, even between neighboring states or provinces, and especially if
subsidies are involved. So, even less attractive for standardized software.
That's why the COTS offerings are limited. Don't be surprised if you hear
about larger uni's spending tens of millions on ERP-type systems. Not
everybody can afford that, though.

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rahimnathwani
Sorry, when I said 'school', I was referring to what Americans call K-12, and
not to universities.

The comment to which I replied referred to a high school's need for custom
software, and that is what I find odd.

A typical high school has probably a tenth as many people (staff+students) as
a typical university.

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laurentl
Look for anti-cyclical companies and more generally “value” companies (in
opposition to growth companies). This means large companies in banking,
insurance, telcos... Consider that everyone has to purchase home and car
insurance, whether the economy is booming or in a recession. Everyone will
still have a mobile plan and/or an internet connection. Everyone will still
buy groceries at Walmart. Any sector that grows slowly during economic booms
will shrink slowly in a recession.

Other factors: the bigger the company, the more inertia it has (assuming your
job suppports its core business; even large companies will cut side or non-
essential activities if the economic forecast is bad). B2B companies are less
exposed to a recession at first, because of longer contracts and decision
cycles in enterprise customers (it’s relatively easy and quick for an
individual to downgrade their internet plan to save money; it takes much
longer for a large company to renegotiate a telco contract). Defense is always
a safe bet.

So basically the bigger the company, the more boring and/or morally dubious
the sector, the better :D

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1ba9115454
I think you're more likely to recession proof yourself with a side business
rather than another job.

Business owners rarely fire themselves.

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danieltillett
Their customers do though.

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redmaple
work in a mortuary, suicide rates climb when bubbles pop => secure job

