In response to the 2008 global financial crisis, the UK’s Conservative Party-led coalition government has embarked on a strict financial austerity policy for the past few years. Whether you agree with this policy or not, your intention is to reduce government spending and the deficit, with the ultimate goal of getting the country to a position where it can eliminate the budget deficit entirely. They have used the slogan “In this together” both as a reference to their unlikely coalition cooperation and to the difficult and austere times the people of the UK would have to endure for better or worse under their rule. The measures have damaged many small and large companies, as well as entire sectors, and apparently no one was getting through completely unscathed.
However, certain professions are said to be “recession proof” in the sense that they will always be needed regardless of how the economy is doing because they provide a service that is vital to people’s daily lives. Additionally, there are even professions that will specifically benefit from tough economic times such as bailiffs, bondsmen, and even in some accountants. However, one profession that I would not have expected to find on this list would have been that of a personal trainer. I would have assumed that in tough economic times, people are far more concerned with feeding their families and paying the bills than getting in shape and working on their fitness. Apparently, however, he would have been dead wrong.
From what I can tell and the evidence suggests, personal trainers are thriving, providing personalized fitness coaching and advice is a real growth industry. All you have to do is search any job search website to see the dozens of ads posted looking to hire personal trainers. Looking for a reason for this, the first thing that came to mind was that perhaps people’s tendency to take more interest in their fitness and appearance was outweighing any potential damage caused by current economic conditions. Perhaps they would fare better in more prosperous times thanks to a new increased emphasis, particularly on men to work on their bodies and improve their fitness. However, then I thought that perhaps the reason for its apparent immunity to recession is that it is simply not as strongly tied to the economic fortunes of the public as one might think.
Because another important angle to consider might simply be that those who might have been inclined to hire a personal trainer don’t overlap much with those who feel the pinch of austerity. Which is to say that anyone who can afford the services of a personal trainer, which of course is a luxury, surely needs to be more financially secure lest they suffer the inconvenience of the global economic downturn. This could be a simple image of the very rich, but it is certainly because the austere conditions of recent years have done little to affect the personal trainer client base.
Whatever the reason for this profession’s success, it’s unclear whether personal trainers will continue to thrive in the future or how long they will be able to withstand the ebb and flow of the global economy, but one thing is for sure: now is a great time to be a personal trainer
