Question for economists and recruiters - if there is a depression and lots of jobs are lost -

[Sarah Ibarruri]

What jobs will remain in demand?

[Yael]

1. Medical will always be in demand

Utilities are also strong.

[Warpy]

8. Only if they straighten out the health care mess

How long are unemployed people with falling house values and no prospects going to pay COBRA?

Fattening health insurance execs will come pretty far down on the list of priorities, as will getting treatment for any health problem a person thinks he will (or sometimes even won't) survive.

Secure jobs are government jobs. People who grew and sold food did pretty well. They survived, at any rate. Entertainers will do OK, although the days of the rock star making millions will be over. Teachers still had jobs.

Otherwise, people just hunker down and try to keep a roof over their heads and something in their stomachs as long as possible.

[DJ13]

2. Repo's, prison guards, soup kitchen workers, temp. job agencies

[lonestarnot]

3. Bartenders, lawyers, doctors and nurses and support staff all 3.

[OutNow]

4. Good Jobs In a Depression

If the last depression is any indicator, there will be lots of jobs for drug pushers, loan collection enforcement agents, and Pinkerton strike breakers (might be Blackwater this time).

OTOH, while the unemployment rate in the last depression was extremely high, the percentage of people who had a job was always higher than 2/3. Not everyone lost their job. But wages fell for almost everyone since there was always someone ready to take your job for less money than you earned. This caused wide spread deflation - in some ways similar to the current deflationary trend on housing where millions of people will soon owe more on their mortgage(s) than their house is worth. The one thing that never goes down in a deflationary period is the the amount of your debts.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. Wow, scary. Why can't the take the $ from where Repukes put it (with the rich)

and give it to the ones who need it (the poor and middle class), to spend and get the economy moving?

[sergeiAK]

5. Engineers are in heavy demand right now

I'm about to graduate with degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I've had recruiters calling me for interviews all the time. Government jobs, private industry, foreign companies, etc. It's a booming market for engineers of all types, but especially EEs like me.

[Possumpoint]

7. What you need to be

is retired from the military and go to Washington DC area and go to work for a government contractor who is planning the next reactionary move.

[cliss]

9. I believe there will always be a demand

for quality labor, no matter now bad it gets.

Back in the Great Depression, the unemployment rate was the highest it's ever been - at 25%. That's unbelievably bad. However, it also means that 75% of all workers still had jobs.

People still need to live, and there will still be jobs no matter how bad it gets.

I personally believe we are headed for another Depression, 1929 style. With unbelievably high unemployment, and the accompanying hard times.

There will always be low-paid service jobs, like in the medical field, the food industry like servers bartenders (lots of drinking!), food preparation, delivery services things like that. The pay will not be good but at least that person will be surviving.

There will still be highly paid jobs in specialized fields, like medicine, computers, accounting, financial and other fields.
Ones to avoid - anything related to the housing industry (real estate, home improvement, building contractors, nurseries anything having to to with the home industry is going to crash)
Also banks will be losers as well as financial institutions, like mortgage companies stay away. Also credit card companies, car companies = going bust.
Sure bets: food,

[pscot]

10. Government

will always be the employer of last resort.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Teachers

There is always a demand.

[AlCzervik]

12. private contractors in Iraq. Don't surprised to see a lot more people go into that line

of work.