We have all heard the bad news - the Fisher & Paykel down-sizing, Oringi meatworks putting itself to the knife and all those real estate agents without a house to sell.
But some jobs not only survive a recession, they flourish.
According to Tradestaff New Zealand, a recruitment agency which has put thousands of Kiwis into work, there are five jobs out there which are a sure thing.
Those are: Wallpaper hanger, roading engineer, dairy worker, IT engineer and plumber.
What they have in common is that their services are all in demand, despite the economic downturn.
A registered plumber earns up to $65,000 a year - a self-employed one over $100,000.
According to Tradestaff, an IT engineer's earning potential is between $40,000 and $100,000 per annum.
On the farm, someone straight out of school might earn $40,000. Once they managed their own herd that could become $90,000, while share-milkers earn an agreed percentage of the farmer's milkfat pay-out.
A roading engineer can earn $50,000 to $140,000 a year and a wall paper hanger - $30 to $40 an hour.
Campbell Live