KEY POINTS:
Recruitment company Tradestaff has released a list of recession-proof careers that includes professionals such as midwives, nurses, salesmen and number-crunchers.
Plumbers topped the list because of the "unsexy" nature of the job - but some plumbers reel in up to $100,000 a year fixing blocked toilets.
Other top recession-proof jobs include IT engineer, dairy-farm worker, roading engineer and wallpaper hanger - a dying art, according to Tradestaff.
With no specialist training available in the country any more, self-employed wallpaper hangers can charge up to $40 an hour.
Until the 1990s, learning practical skills such as typing and shorthand would guarantee a career as a secretary - before the wonder of technology introduced the world to email and electronic diaries.
In hard times people become more aware of their jobs and whether or not they will stack up, Tradestaff managing director Kevin Elder said.
"[It's] a very important component that rarely features when people are considering their career."
SAFEST JOBS
The five most recession-proof professions:
1 Plumber.
2 IT engineer.
3 Dairy-farm worker/sharemilker.
4 Roading engineer.
5 Wallpaper hanger.
