- Healthcare may be job seekers’ best bet at a stable six-figure salary in the current climate. While Indeed hails the field as “recession-resistant,” nurses agree that they’ve enjoyed plentiful job options, even during the 2008 recession. Here’s how job seekers can get their feet in the door.
Dark clouds are storming over America’s markets—threatening to drastically raise prices and eliminate jobs. Luckily, one industry has typically buoyed during recessionary times.
“Healthcare is a classic recession-resistant industry because medical care is always in demand,” Priya Rathod, career expert at Indeed, tells Fortune. And it may be the safest way to hold down a job with a potential six-figure starting salary right now.
New data from the careers platform shows that home health, doctor, and nursing job postings have hit a combined 162% growth since pre-pandemic.
Physician and surgeon jobs represent the greatest boost in the field, as open roles have skyrocketed 90% since pre-pandemic years. Meanwhile, other industries are suffering; arts and entertainment job postings have especially plummeted since 2022, falling 10% overall from pre-COVID-19 levels.
Why healthcare jobs can be both recession and AI-proof
People will always need their yearly check-ups, routine medical care, and emergency hospital on speed dial—no matter how rough the economy is.
“During the 2007–2009 Great Recession, healthcare employment continued to grow even as overall U.S. payrolls shrank,” Rathod says, and that this is “A sign that the sector is ‘resistant to, if not immune from’ traditional economic downturns, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
America also has a rapidly aging population, driving the need for services like home health, personal care, surgeon, and physician jobs. Healthcare employment is expected to swell by roughly 1.9 million job openings annually over the next decade, according to BLS data.
Danielle LeVeck, a nurse of over 15 years, tells Fortune she has witnessed her profession’s growth in action. She switched career tracks from PR to nursing in 2007, hoping for steady employment. She’s never worried about being unemployed since, and is comforted by the routine and safety of her career.
“I’ve never worried, since becoming a nurse, that I wouldn’t have a job. That sense of security is very important to me,” LeVeck says. “Working with the same people every day, going to work and helping people, it’s good for me.”
There’s another sticky situation the healthcare industry naturally skirts: the impact of AI on jobs. Workers have been wringing their hands over the reality that advanced tech is coming for their roles. But medical staffers don’t have to lose sleep; healthcare is one of the key industries expected to grow amid the U.S.’s AI-driven business landscape disruption, according to a 2024 report from McKinsey. AI still can’t perform a majority of tasks that healthcare workers can—like sterilizing surgical equipment, or administering at-home aid.
How to get into the industry and make $100,000 plus
These recession and AI-proof jobs aren’t just the golden ticket to a steady career—but a six-figure salary, if you play your cards right.
“You have to have experience, you have to be living in the right place, and working at the right place. The pay discrepancy for nurses is wide,” LeVeck says.
When she started as a bedside nurse in 2011, her initial wages were $45,000 a year, and her final role in that niche paid $67,000 annually. LeVeck says it is possible to earn over $100,000 as a bedside nurse, but that her later job as a nurse practitioner is more apt to make six figures as a starting salary. The real money lies in private hospitals and care centers as opposed to large, research-based hospitals—there’s typically a lighter workload, but higher competition for these jobs that nobody wants to leave.
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Nursing is just one of the several recession-proof jobs with the chance to earn six figures. Physicians can earn over $200,000 annually, and doctors like general practitioners rake in $140,000 yearly. LeVeck says making the right connections can be the make-or-break for healthcare professionals to secure high-paying roles—networking is how she’s landed every job in her career.
Rathod echoes the importance of connection building. She also recommends job-seekers optimize their resumes to highlight healthcare-relevant skills and gain credentials like a certified nursing assistant (CNA) license or an IT security certificate. But at a baseline level, simply getting your foot in the door is a good first step.
“Don’t hesitate to start in an adjacent or entry-level role such as an administrative job at a hospital,” Rathod says. “Demonstrating initiative and flexibility can help you stand out, even in crowded applicant pools.”