Are there any fields in programming that are currently "recession proof?" That is, are there any topics that, if a person is profficient in them, he/she will be relatively immune from the current economic slowdown?
At first I was thinking that due to its explosion in popularity Ruby/Rails would be one such field. I am, however, unconvinced that it is recession proof. I'm not quite sure why, however, and was hoping to read some insights from the Stack Overflow community.
Rather than finding the right technology, I'd concentrate on being as good as you can be within your existing skill set. If someone is:
then they're likely to be reasonably recession-proof whatever area they're in.
Actually, from what I have seen the programming industry seems to be recession proof itself. When you look at the current job market in the tech industry vs the other industries, besides health care, the tech industry still has the highest paid jobs and highest demand. One thing nice about our line of work, is that when things get tight, companies need to find ways to automate and be more efficient.
As for specific skills. Try to stay away from fads. My advice is to always walk the line between Microsoft and *nix, so that you are proficient in both, even if you may specialize in one.
It's likely understanding multiple systems and making them work together will be a high demand skill in the future as we have lots of company mergers on the horizon.
Programming itself is not really an industry, as far as I'm concerned. What you might want to do is look for programming jobs in industries that are reasonably recession-proof. Higher education, for instance, is not particularly impacted hard by recessions -- enrollments actually tend to go up to balance the drop off in state/endowment fund losses. I have personal experience there and job cutbacks, particularly in state institutions, tend to be de-emphasized over other types of cutbacks (deferred maintenance, delayed construction, etc.). You'd have to ask an MBA what other industries are relatively recession-proof.
As far as recession-proofing yourself, I think @Jon Skeet has good advice, as always.
I would suggest being strong in proven technologies, and spend less time learning new, cutting edge tech. Fewer companies will be starting new projects from the ground up. Companies that are hiring will be maintaining exisiting products.
At the same time - don't let your skillset go stale. When the economy turns around, you'll want to be ready for the next big thing.
As for industries (in the US) - Healthcare, Defense, and anything "green".
Having worked through the a pretty big recession in the 80s, I'd say that one of the single most important programming related technical skills you can hope to learn is effective requirements analysis. Put simply, learn how to develop software that people want to use because it adds real value to their own work. Users and other non-geeks that sign cheques don't generally care if its written in Ruby, Python, COBOL or 1802 assembler. Once it does what they need it to do, it has the makings of a good app.
Second skill is probably ability to test software, to the extent that when you deliver it, it works and stays working. If it crashes or just falls off the rails, users ain't going to like it. Over the past couple of years I have spent much more time learning good SQA on sites such as SQAF and Stickyminds, rather than poring over Dr Dobbs. as I would have in the past. This has worked very well for me.
Third skill is good user interface design. If your app does what the user wants, and is reliable to boot, making it easy and pleasant to use is really the icing on the cake.
Lastly, don't panic about the recession. It is a great time to hone your skills for the next boom. And prepare you for the following recession ;)
No individual technology is recession-proof. Tech changes constantly and Ruby will likely as not be old hat within a few years, recession or no recession, just as soon as "Diamond" (or "Calico" or whatever the next hot new language gets named) comes out. If you have to pick a language for longevity, C is probably your safest bet because it's been around forever and so much other stuff is based on it that it makes a good foundation for learning whatever language is popular today, even if there's not that much being done with plain C any more.
What is recession-proof is the fundamentals and the techniques. Get those down and, as soon as a new language or technology or methodology or whatever comes out, you'll be able to learn it in no time flat. Plus you'll not only be able to use both the new tech and the older tech, but you'll be able to use them effectively.
There are no specificly "recession proof" fields or topics.
However, intelligence, education, hard work, and good networking always pay off, and can help you be more "recession tolerant" than others.
There is one thing that is invulnerable to any recession, depression, chaos, or calamity. That is the ability to learn and adapt. The greatest IT skill is knowing how to learn and doing it quickly.
Well, ok there is one other thing but love isn't an IT skill...