<p>is engineering recession-proof? aka is the engineering profession negatively affected by the current recession/depression of our current economy here in the united states?</p>
<p>Pretty much the only people not being negatively affected by the current situation are bankruptcy lawyers and politicians.</p>
<p>No. It's considerably harder to find positions as an engineer than it was a year ago. Possible but harder.</p>
<p>Back in my day, we used to call it "hugging the pipes". Basically, people still need goods manufactured. So manufacturing engineers, those that work directly at the plant or on the plant, are usually the most secure in their jobs. Even if your company goes under, most manufacturing plants are large with major fixed cost, so there's a good chance a competitor will buy the plant and keep everyone from the plant manager down.</p>
<p>The further you get from having to wear a hard-hat to work, the less secure your job is. When companies have layoffs, R&D engineers, consulting engineers, QC engineers, design engineers, and central engineering groups are often the first ones to go.</p>
<p>It depends which industry you work in. The defense industry seems to be fine.</p>
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The further you get from having to wear a hard-hat to work, the less secure your job is.
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<p>Unless you're in the construction industry, in which case you're generally hosed right now.</p>
<p>What about electrical engineering? Like a position designing circuit boards or working in the Power industry to improve the efficiency of power systems? Also, I believe the healthcare industry is recession proof. Pharmacists NEVER get laid off. Neither do doctors and other healthcare professionals.</p>
<p>Give Obama a few more weeks. Defense contractors will be hurting and construction crews will be booming.</p>
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What about electrical engineering? Like a position designing circuit boards or working in the Power industry to improve the efficiency of power systems? Also, I believe the healthcare industry is recession proof. Pharmacists NEVER get laid off. Neither do doctors and other healthcare professionals.
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<p>Again, it depends on what you're doing in the industry. An MD that treats patients is going to be pretty safe, because people still get sick during a recession. An MD that works for McKinsey consulting and designs pharmaceutical ad campaigns will be more susceptible to being fired.</p>
<p>Same thing with Electrical Engineers. An EE that works on maintaining and monitoring power grids will be pretty safe, as people will still use power. An EE that works in R&D for a circuit chip manufacturer has a less secure job.</p>
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Defense contractors will be hurting and construction crews will be booming.
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<p>This very much depends upon what kind of construction you're talking about. If you're talking about infrastructure construction, then yes, that will probably happen. If you're talking about new building construction, then no.</p>
<p>How many civil engineers build homes?</p>
<p>(besides, your assessment of the future of home building depends on your expected level of success of the stimulus package)</p>
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Unless you're in the construction industry, in which case you're generally hosed right now.
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<p>a.k.a. ken285. </p>
<p>My company has laid off over 1/4 of our employees in the past few months due to the lack of work. Our primary clients are usually luxury residential high rise developers so we're hurting pretty bad. Lucky for me, I ended up on a different type of project so things are a bit more stable for me. If things don't get better, I might be looking for a job in heavy construction instead soon.</p>
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Pretty much the only people not being negatively affected by the current situation are bankruptcy lawyers and politicians.
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<p>I think I started a thread regarding engineering and financial meltdown back when lehman bros/bear stearns went under. If I recall correctly, it seemed that the general consensus was engineering profession was supposed to be secure...
Now that we are entering a mega depression and ue rate is going up to 30% everyone becomes pessimistic?</p>
<p>I remember that thread (mainly because I was criticized for calling this the worst economic situation since the Great Depression). I still think that as a whole, civil engineering is a pretty safe field. Residential isn't doing too hot right now, but infrastructure is pretty good. As a new grad, you have a choice of going into either field, and you would obviously choose the one that's doing better at the time.</p>
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Pretty much the only people not being negatively affected by the current situation are bankruptcy lawyers and politicians.
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<p>And repo men. And people who work at the unemployment office. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal chronicled a guy who was unemployed for a while, receiving unemployment benefits from the state government, and then eventually ended up getting a job at the government office that administered those very same unemployment benefits that he had been previously living on. </p>
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Also, I believe the healthcare industry is recession proof. Pharmacists NEVER get laid off. Neither do doctors and other healthcare professionals.
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An MD that treats patients is going to be pretty safe, because people still get sick during a recession
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<p>They may still get stick, but many will stop seeing doctors because they've lost their jobs (and hence their health insurance). Or they don't feel like they can afford their co-pays/deductibles.</p>
<p>And then there numerous medical procedures that are purely discretionary. Nobody really 'needs' botox, LASIK, or hair plugs. Hence, one would logically expect that doctors who provide those services would see business fall off a cliff. </p>
<p>It's not only those things that can hurt doctors. Pennsylvania a while back (no clue if it still is) was having problems with malpractice insurance costs skyrocketing due to the sheer number of claims being brought in the state (likely due to PA being the #2 state for retirement). Because of that a ton of doctors were leaving the state since they could make a lot more money elsewhere.</p>
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They may still get stick, but many will stop seeing doctors because they've lost their jobs (and hence their health insurance). Or they don't feel like they can afford their co-pays/deductibles.</p>
<p>And then there numerous medical procedures that are purely discretionary. Nobody really 'needs' botox, LASIK, or hair plugs. Hence, one would logically expect that doctors who provide those services would see business fall off a cliff.
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<p>Treating patents and getting Botox injections are two different things. If you break your arm, with or without insurance, you're going to the hospital. If you have diabetes or a heart condition, with or without insurance, you're going to your doctor's visits. People who show up with a cold or for a routine physical do not make up the majority of visits to doctors' offices. </p>
<p>That article you posted had more to do with pharma companies struggling because people were switching to generics, elective surgeries struggling, and testing companies struggling because doctor's are ordering less expensive tests.</p>
<p>Primary care physicians are probably seeing in impact because they have people that can't pay or that need reduced rates, but they're staying busy.</p>
<p>There may be a career that is recession proof. However, there's nobody recession proof unless you're filthy rich. I used to be careless about recession. I thought I'm getting annual salary so I don't care about recession. Actually, recession caused prices to go down might help me. However, that is wrong. Chances are you will know somebody that is being hit by recession (whether your brother in college loses his job, your dad's company lost a contract or your mom's restaurant is seeing fewer customers). You will have to contribute in to fill those holes. It always affect you.</p>
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If you break your arm, with or without insurance, you're going to the hospital. If you have diabetes or a heart condition, with or without insurance, you're going to your doctor's visits.
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<p>But without insurance, you're probably not paying. Or, at least, not easily. One of the major problems that doctors are facing these days is tracking down patients who can't or won't pay for their treatments, and fully half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States can be at least partially traced back to unpaid medical bills. Obviously when people have less money and less medical insurance, like today, they are even more likely to renege on medical bills.</p>
<p>USNews.com:</a> Health: In Brief: Other: Medical bills lead to personal bankruptcy</p>
<p>What matters in this context is not whether a doctor is treating patients, but whether the doctor is getting paid to treat patients, which happens with decreasing frequency when patients lose insurance and jobs. If a guy comes to you with diabetes, and you treat him, and then he doesn't pay, how does that help you? You can pursue him through the courts, but then he declares bankruptcy and hence still doesn't pay. That forces you to eat the costs.</p>
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One of the major problems that doctors are facing these days is tracking down patients who can't or won't pay for their treatments
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<p>One of the major problems <em>we're</em> facing these days is tracking down <em>clients</em> who can't or won't pay for work that we've already done, too. People not paying is a big problem in all kinds of fields... yet another reason why nobody's really recession-proof.</p>
<p>My company just tried to get rid of a whole bunch of us. There's very little work right now, and projects are being put on hold right and left because banks won't lend our clients money to start their projects. I managed to seek refuge in our civil engineering department since my main structural design project was almost complete, so I've essentially moved to higher ground for the time being. I'm doing part-time work for the structural group to keep me sharp, but there are just too many folks there for the work that's available and it's getting a little dangerous, particularly within a company that's had two rounds of layoffs in the past six months.</p>
<p>Naysaying and fearmongering still doesn't do anybody any good, though. A big problem right now is consumer and lender confidence. Engineering's as good a place as any, and freaking out won't help. You just have to ride out these sorts of things as best you can, and come up with as many contingency plans as you can come up with.</p>