Best jobs to ride out recession

If you work in the health, aged-care, pre-school or finance industry, think yourselves lucky because your jobs are likely to be among the top 10 to be labelled ``recession proof''.
Others to survive the tough economic times of the past 18 months included power lines workers, couriers, those marketing for export traders, broadband installers, people working in the home insulation industry and those with Tikanga Maori and Te Reo skills.
Hawke's Bay chamber of Commerce chief executive Murray Douglas said the aged-care industry in particular was strong especially in Hawke's Bay which had become a retirement centre for New Zealanders.
``It's not just those who work directly in aged-care but also all of the services which are wrapped around it,'' Mr Douglas said.
``We're talking about specialist physiotherapists, personal trainers, dietitians, it's all of the ancillary position that support them.
``Twenty years ago we had never heard of a personal trainer, it's a new industry.
``If I was looking at doing something new, I would build around that.''
Education and teaching was also another interesting recession proof job.
``Teaching is very much a population-driven industry ... around Dannevirke and Woodville schools are being closed.
``But pre-school would be one area where there is demand, rather than primary.''
There was also likely to be more demand for those working in the finance and banking industry.
``There will be more demand for face-to-face banking, rather than just the machine doing it for you. I can't see there would be huge numbers of people going into those areas but it would be reasonably good in the Bay,'' Mr Douglas said.
Jobs in the electricity and energy sector, for companies such as Hawke's Bay's Unison, were also a good bet as powerlines staff had been ``like hens teeth''.
``They are trying to recruit new people all the time,'' Mr Douglas said.
``There are demands in skilled tradespeople now, such as scaffolding and sheet metal trade, as we are beginning to see commercial construction lift.
``We're seeing (building) consents for places like the new (trades and training) block at the EIT by Gemco,'' he said.
Hastings employment recruitment agency Adecco has seen an increase in the number of people looking for work, compared to the same time a year ago.
Manager Paul Davies said some people had been out of work for four weeks or more.
``We've got a lot more people coming into the office. I had two or three people through that had been made redundant recently looking for work.
``Having said that there are people finding work, they have managed to get temp jobs in between other (longer periods of) work.''
Mr Davies said some of the jobseekers were prepared and keen to take on any work.
``Most of our jobs are for temporary workers in manufacturing. We do have some commercial temps as well, office administrator type roles for firms who have an employee away.
``Some jobs run for different periods. We had a few clients where their contracts are in the manufacturing and engineering area and are driven by the export market,'' he said.
Dynamics3 Recruitment manager Lynne Gibson said jobs such as engineers, IT programmers, those in the health sector such as specialist nursing and medical staff were in demand.
She was also looking for early childhood educators and senior accountants _ a sign perhaps people were looking for finance help and parents being forced to head back to work.
Ms Gibson said low house prices had proved a barrier for others looking at working in the Bay.
``I've got an IT position here with a person from Auckland, another from Rotorua and one from Wellington interested,'' she said.
``But because house prices have been lower, they're don't want to sell, and it's hard to get people to move out of town to come here.''
Ms Gibson said more trades and retail staff had come in to look for work recently and her firm had been busy helping job seekers prepare CVs and offering career counselling.
``About 12 months ago we were recruiting tradespeople from the UK, we couldn't get them but now we've got quite a few on our books,'' she said.
Dynamics3 Recruitment had been operating in Napier for five years, working in areas such as professional and technical recruitment, human resources, career planning and coaching.
Ms Gibson said it was obvious after speaking to clients, some businesses had not offered a lot of support to staff who had to be laid off because of the recession.
``But some people are positive and are seeing it as an opportunity for a career change,'' Ms Gibson said.
Recruitment firm Kelly's Hawke's Bay branch manager Megan Nicholson said the best indication of recession proof jobs in the region were those which continued to show vacancies, or had increased the number of jobs advertised in the last year.
``Among these sectors in Hawke's Bay have been the professions, including law, accountancy, education and health, and local and central government agencies, particularly corrections and welfare.
``Some areas are seeing an increase in activity due to the recession, most notably debt collection services, while others, such as the beauty industry, are flourishing despite the economic environment,'' she said.