[amateurdev]

Power Systems or certain companies in the healthcare space? I was working in a company making software for utilities and oil & gas companies (think competition to GE, Siemens etc). Don't think this will ever be slowed down or have to lay off people specifically due to a 2008-09 like recession

[bombcar]

They can - but they can also be so loaded with debt that a slight downturn flips them over.

The company then goes bankrupt and continues as if nothing happened, but the shareholders are wiped out and the debtors own the company. Happens in airlines all the time.

So "essentials" companies that have a low debt load may be interesting, especially if boring.

Berkshire Hathaway may do decently well.

[bluesquared]

I'm a EE/hardware engineer, so this may be a bit different than a pure SWE perspective.

I worked in computer hardware for oil & gas, there was a turndown around 2014-2015 that slowed the demand for a lot of our products. Not quite enough for layoffs or anything, but that industry can slow down quite a bit depending on market cycles.

Healthcare is also a tricky one, I'm in that now. You'd think it's safe because "everybody needs healthcare", but hospital capital equipment sales slowed a good deal due to lots of elective procedures being cancelled for months on end during different periods of the pandemic. New product launches delayed, incessant supply chain headaches on everything electronics (and other stuff too), it's a rough time for low/mixed volume manufacturers like you see in most healthcare.

[bee_rider]

How was it? I've always vaguely wanted to work for the power company. Seems like it would be a pretty stable field, and in the end it is a product that really helps people.

For a while now I've had a vague suspicion that if we poured as much analysis into (broad strokes) smart grid stuff as we do advertising/the stock market, issues like renewables' intermittence would start looking like less of a big deal. (Although I'm aware there are already lots of smart people working on keeping the grid reliable!)

[amateurdev]

Culture-wise? Pretty boring TBH. I've worked in 2 startups and this company, hence the opinion. Work was very slow paced, lots of processes to follow and not experimental with technology (for obvious reasons). IMO ideal for someone who wants a great work life balance and decent pay. Never got the thrill of working for the 3 years I was there and decided it was time to move on.