Which Physics Subfield Offers the Best Job Prospects in Canada?

[CrysPhys]

Or live a low-key lifestyle and save a lot of money, so that at some point you can afford to be forced into early retirement.

That scheme won't always work: depends how early in your career you get laid off. I was only 8 yrs into my corporate R&D career (after my PhD) when I got my first layoff, with more to follow during my career. I had led a low-key lifestyle, but not enough years to have saved a lot of money to retire at that point. I didn't have a trust fund or a rich wife; I adapted to the job market and changed fields, with more changes to follow during my career. There have been people who got laid off before they started; i.e., they had an offer of employment all set upon graduation, but the offer was pulled before graduation day.

 

[jtbell]

depends how early in your career you get laid off.

Sure. But at some point, maybe in your fifties, maybe even earlier if you do really well, you can decide, "OK, this is my last layoff, time to hang it up."

 

[CrysPhys]

Sure. But at some point, maybe in your fifties, maybe even earlier if you do really well, you can decide, "OK, this is my last layoff, time to hang it up."

Sure, if you can pull it off financially (no more kids to put through college ...), sounds great. But multiple industry meltdowns and consequent layoffs are not conducive to monotonic and substantial salary increases. In my mid-50's, after being notified of my n-th layoff, I did decide to hang up my corporate R&D career. But I did not have the wherewithal to sail off into the sunset. So the last pivot in my career was the most major one: I became a patent agent in a law firm.

But back to my original point to the OP: unless you are really lucky, the job market is often dynamic, turbulent, and chaotic. Unless you have other financial means, you need a diverse skill set and need to be amenable to adapt to the job market [which, in some instances, means moving each time the local job market in your current field crashes, and you wish to stay in your current field (and this assumes that jobs in your current field are even available elsewhere); or changing fields if you choose not to uproot your family each time the local job market in your current field crashes (or the crash in your current field is industry wide)]. Stashing away enough in your 30's and 40's (and maybe early 50's) to retire in your 50's is not something I would count on ... and, besides which, you need a strategy to get you through your 30's and 40's (and maybe early 50's) to accumulate a stash in the first place. And I'm talking as one who weathered the semiconductor meltdown of the early 1990's, the InterNet Bubble Burst of the early 2000's, and the financial crisis of 2008 ... along with several smaller downturns.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Sure, if you can pull it off financially (no more kids to put through college ...), sounds great. But multiple industry meltdowns and consequent layoffs are not conducive to monotonic and substantial salary increases. In my mid-50's, after being notified of my n-th layoff, I did decide to hang up my corporate R&D career. But I did not have the wherewithal to sail off into the sunset. So the last pivot in my career was the most major one: I became a patent agent in a law firm.

But back to my original point to the OP: unless you are really lucky, the job market is often dynamic, turbulent, and chaotic. Unless you have other financial means, you need a diverse skill set and need to be amenable to adapt to the job market [which, in some instances, means moving each time the local job market in your current field crashes, and you wish to stay in your current field (and this assumes that jobs in your current field are even available elsewhere); or changing fields if you choose not to uproot your family each time the local job market in your current field crashes (or the crash in your current field is industry wide)]. Stashing away enough in your 30's and 40's (and maybe early 50's) to retire in your 50's is not something I would count on ... and, besides which, you need a strategy to get you through your 30's and 40's (and maybe early 50's) to accumulate a stash in the first place. And I'm talking as one who weathered the semiconductor meltdown of the early 1990's, the InterNet Bubble Burst of the early 2000's, and the financial crisis of 2008 ... along with several smaller downturns.

As an aside, as a patent agent, will you now have sufficient income in your current job to be able to retire in your 60s (if that is what you intend to do)?

 

[AryaKimiaghalam]

Hi,
I just began my undergraduate studies in mathematics and physics in Canada. I wanted to know more and hear about the job prospect of physicists in Canada (both industry and academia) from an expert who works here. What fields are better to specialize here?
I really appreciate your help and guidance.

 

[Choppy]

What answers are you hoping to get that you didn't already get in this thread?
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/what-subfield-of-physics-has-the-most-career-opportunities.946888/

 

[fresh_42]

What answers are you hoping to get that you didn't already get in this thread?
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/what-subfield-of-physics-has-the-most-career-opportunities.946888/

Merged the two. The question still stands.

 

[AryaKimiaghalam]

Sorry guys i couldn’t remember I asked this questions already.
I apologize