Posted on 03/14/2009 12:55:59 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
If nothing is certain but death and taxes, then funeral service may be the closest thing to a recession-proof career in these uncertain times.
Nowhere is that more evident than mortuary science programs like the one at Nassau Community College, where interest and applications have mounted as the economy contracts.
At Nassau, which offers the only such public program in the metropolitan area, inquiries about mortuary science are up 15 percent in recent months, and enrollment for last fall's class was nearly double the year before.
At the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Education, a private program in Manhattan, enrollment has jumped to 270 students for the spring semester, compared with 200 a year ago. The school attributes the rise to the economic downturn and the addition of an online program.
"They're looking for something stable, a career that will last them," said Michael Mastellone, chairman of the Nassau program. "And there will always be work out there."
Among the recent inquiries Mastellone fielded was one from a retired police officer who at 57 wondered whether there was an age limit to start the two-year program.
"He retired and his pension was fine, and now his retirement fund isn't fine anymore," Mastellone said.
He said that about 80 percent of the program's graduates are employed in the funeral service industry. Graduates can earn about $50,000 a year by the time they complete a yearlong residency at a funeral home, he said.
The demographics don't hurt, either.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
The next bubble?
certainly gives new definition to the grateful dead.
And no complaints from the customers.
Yeah, but wouldn’t a recession economy have the same affect on potential clients. There are ways to avoid an expensive funeral- buying your own coffin, cremation, spreading ashes at sea or in a park etc, burying a loved one in the backyard.
Customers are dying to give you their business.
Plus..it’s a “leave me alone” job, especially the dudes who dig the grave, lower the casket then cover it up. One of my classmates in economics class at university used to do it to pay for tuition. He just didn’t want to be there at night.
I read the other day that there is a strong move towards super cheap burial/cremation. The example they cited was of a one man operation who basically picked up the dead, had them cremated and presented the ashes.
From what I could tell there wasn’t a lot of obstacles to getting into this business so I would expect employment in the funeral industry to be as hard hit as any other sector, if not more so.
Looking for a job?
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It fits the demographics of the boomer generation. Don’t fight demographics.
“Customers are dying to give you their business.”
What a cryptic comment.
Sounds good to me. I went from working in Hollywood to working part time at a nursing and rehab center in KC. Funeral parlors and nursing homes aren’t going anywhere.
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