Reports indicate that one in seven (70%) US employees are making preparations over concerns of losing their job, and 40% admit they would run out of money after a month of unemployment.1 

With this in mind, Job search and career coaching platform JobLeads analyzed the job growth rate across various industries following key financial events to identify in which industry you are most likely to lose your job.

Key findings:

• Employees in the construction industry are most at risk of losing their job following a financial event, with a vulnerability score of 7.99/10 
• The manufacturing sector has experienced the second-highest job growth since the 2008 financial crash (5.91%)
• Utility industry employees are the least vulnerable to the effects of financial events, with a score of 6.09/10

The results: Industries where you are most likely to lose your job Rank Industry Job growth change (pre COVID 2015-19 to during 2020-21) %Job growth change (during COVID  2020-21 to post 2022-23) %Job growth change (pre 2008 crash 2005-06 to during 2007-09)%Job growth change (during 2008 crash 2007-09 to post 2010-14)Net job growth 2005-2023  (%)Vulnerability likelihood score /101.Construction-3.601.50-13.969.18-0.537.992.Real Estate, Rental and Leasing-4.512.84-5.024.14-0.227.813.Manufacturing-3.392.72-6.275.91-0.237.684.Transportation and Warehousing-0.17-0.48-4.513.66-0.267.565.Information-3.893.26-0.031.05-0.197.436.Finance and Insurance0.64-0.76-4.924.00-0.197.247.Total Private-4.003.31-3.933.65-0.137.178.Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction-14.3515.95-5.021.200.557.179.Wholesale Trade-2.663.13-3.272.71-0.157.1710.Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services-1.731.41-3.091.33-0.057.04
To access the entire dataset, view here.

The data used was the most up-to-date data available.

Construction employees most at risk of losing their jobs 

Job search and career coaching platform JobLeads can reveal that the construction industry is the most likely to be affected by a financial event, with a vulnerability score of 7.99 out of 10. The sector experienced a near 14% decrease in job growth between the pre-financial crash period (2005-2006) and the crash (2007-2009), the largest decline across all industries. Although the construction industry has seen a 9.18% increase in job growth after the crash, it remains below pre-financial crash levels.  

Real estate sector employees are the second most vulnerable to losing their jobs with a score of 7.81 out of 10. This sector saw a 4.51% decline in job growth from pre-COVID levels to during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021), as well as a 5.02% drop during the 2008 financial crash (2007-2009).

Ranking third is the manufacturing industry, with a vulnerability score of 7.68 out of 10. Suffering from a 3.39% decrease in job growth during COVID-19 and a 6.27% decline from the pre-financial crash to the post-crash period, indicating employees in manufacturing risk  of job loss. 

The results: Industries where you are least likely to lose your job Rank Industry Job growth change (pre COVID 2015-19 to during 2020-21) %Job growth change (during COVID  2020-21 to post 2022-23) %Job growth change (pre 2008 crash 2005-06 to during 2007-09)%Job growth change (during 2008 crash 2007-09 to post 2010-14)Net job growth 2005-2023  (%)Vulnerability likelihood score /101.Utilities-1.043.543.22-2.89-0.076.092.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting0.51-1.13-0.913.25-0.056.323.Management of Companies and Enterprises-2.913.97-2.301.22-0.056.474.Retail Trade-1.181.45-2.683.26-0.096.625.Educational Services-5.425.80-0.84-0.980.116.69
Utility sector employees are safest in their jobs 

The industry that is least vulnerable to the effects of a financial event is the utilities sector, with the lowest vulnerability score of 6.09 out of 10.  It saw a 1.04% decrease in job growth during COVID compared to pre-COVID levels, and a 2.89% decrease following the financial crash compared to during the crash. This makes employees in the utilities industry likely to be the least affected by job loss. 

Top tips for navigating interviews after job loss:

Losing your job can be a traumatic experience, and applying for new positions—especially explaining a period of unemployment—can be daunting. With this in mind, Jan Hendrik von Ahlen at JobLeads offered expert career tips on what to say in your next interview to help you succeed:

1. Sharing how you learnt from the experience

“Whilst you may not see it at the time of losing your job, stressful situations like layoffs are a significant opportunity to show what you are truly capable of when life gets tough.

Potential employers would rather hear how an awful situation was turned around into a learning opportunity than listen to you recall the months spent on the sofa and cursing your former employer. Focusing on what you have learnt, and how to apply this to your next employer demonstrates resilience, adaptability, and readiness for new challenges. It also signals that you are ready for new opportunities with a fresh, positive, and inquiring mindset.”

1. Be clear with what you want in a new role

“Being laid off can actually lead you to rethink your career path and direction with what you truly want to gain from a job. This isn’t a bad thing, it can help you explain to employers what inspired you to apply to that particular role.

Whilst having the right experience and qualifications is key to securing a job, holding a positive attitude and fitting into the culture is a huge part of any hiring decision. Being able to articulate what you are looking for and why this particular organization is attractive, will make you stand out from other candidates on the interview shortlist.”

1. Being honest about the layoff

“Honesty is the best policy, that goes without saying in any job role. When sharing the reasons behind being laid off to potential employers, approach it neutrally and constructively.

Acting anxious, embarrassed, or angry about the matter can make the recruiter become suspicious and think it might not be so much a layoff as a you off.  Whereas, using a straightforward approach indicates transparency and no hard feelings while demonstrating your understanding of the wider business context.” 



Image to use for editorial purposes is available here.

If you use the data in this release, we ask that you include a link to https://www.jobleads.com/. A linked credit allows us to continue producing these types of studies, which I hope will be of use to you again in the future.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Best wishes,
Olivia

olivia@journalistic.org

Methodology: 

1. JobLeads sought to discover the states and industries most at risk of suffering following a recession.
2. To do so, data from US Bureau of Labour Statistics was used to find the industries and states that would fare best in a recession based on past data on job growth as a % of employment.
3. The values for each year from 2005-2023 were averaged and then grouped by industry and state.
4. Data on how well each industry/state recovered from the COVID 19 pandemic and the 2008 Financial Crisis was found by averaging job growth in the years immediately prior, during and after the event.
5. This was combined with a linear regression on the job growth values from 2005-2023 to find a gradient of the line of best fit (the overall trend).
6. Finally an average percentrank was calculated to find a score representing how vulnerable each industry/state is likely to be in another recession.
7. The data used was the most up-to-date and is available here.
8. All data was collected and is accurate as of August 2024.