I did 6 years as a Research Associate (contract researcher) in a UK university in the late 1980s and 1990s. For some part of that time the UK was in recession a

I did 6 years as a Research Associate (contract researcher) in a UK university in the late 1980s and 1990s. For some part of that time the UK was in recession and it was actually kind of neat having a 3 year contract with guaranteed employment. Mind you - I knew other people who had terrible problems with contract renewals, getting mortgages etc. Fortunately, I never had those problems but I'm pretty sure that was sheer luck.