I will be the first to admit that there wasn’t a pandemic portion of my career coach training way back when. We’re all in new territory, and anyone who says they know exactly what to do right now is a liar. Now that we got that out of the way!

What Other People Think

As I said in my previous blog post, there is no such thing as job security. That also implies that there are no recession-proof jobs. Nothing is guaranteed safe. Bleak, I know, but accepting it makes it slightly less bleak, doesn’t it?

But we’re humans, we’re pattern-making machines. Of course we’re going to try to predict trends in the job market in the midst of a pandemic! The projections and predictions from various experts vary in scope and positivity:

In an interview with NPR, Mark Peltz, dean of careers, life, and service at Iowa’s Grinnell College, makes his guess as to what industries will continue to grow: “communications, consumer products, biotechnology, medical supplies, and logistics.”

Josh Bersin doesn’t go into specific fields but rather sees the digital transformation that we’re currently in. Digital workflows aren’t going anywhere any time soon, and companies, employers, and job seekers are quickly adapting to shifting everything online, and so far, it’s working out okay. Bersin thinks that automation and VR will thrive after this: no more cashiers, and training will be done through Oculus sets.

Three reporters over at CNBC share their predictions from the future—from more equitable pay for women and more flex time to changes in office structure and less middle management positions.

Again I want to point out that no one has the answers right now. All we have are educated guesses. If you’ve heard different predictions of the job market and workforce ahead, please email or message me on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear more!

Resources

A lot of organizations are compiling a list of companies that are hiring or freezing hiring. I’ll share a few here that seem to be constantly updating. But these resources are everywhere: news sources, organizations, forums, you name it.

Candor, a site that usually aims toward helping people negotiate salary, has a constantly updated crowdsourced list of who is hiring and who isn’t.

LinkedIn is also keeping a running list of companies who are hiring, as is the Muse. Your local news sites will also have similar resources, like ABC’s.

A Word of Caution

While it’s good to know what companies are and aren’t hiring right now—for the purposes of applying as well as gaining more market awareness—you still shouldn’t rely too heavily on job sites and job postings.

Even though we can’t hug, shake hands, or stand too close to each other for too long, human connection is still the best way to find a new job. Reach out to people you know or met once at a networking event. We’re all online now, so use LinkedIn, email, text—whatever is appropriate for your relationship. Cold emailing is also an option for someone you haven’t met yet but would love to learn more from them.

And yes, you can’t invite them out for coffee right now to pick their brains. But maybe you do a video chat over your own mugs of preferred beverage. Maybe you email them your questions, or text chat. We’re all already (somewhat) used to this new digital connection. Right now, we can all use a little more connection.