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In the current economic crisis, it's just another day when more layoffs are
announced. But January 26 is likely to go down in history as the job market's
"Black Monday" more than 50,000 jobs lost in a single day. Now the question
is: Who is hiring?
While some companies that offer inexpensive products are seeing profits rise in
these down times (McDonald's, anyone?), even discount chains like Wal-Mart and
Target are having a hard time keeping ahead of the ever-shrinking economy.
However, there are companies and industries that are hiring, some expected,
some not. Here's a roundup of the hottest employers:
- Uncle Sam: Just inaugurating a new president created up to 4,000 political
appointee positions in the new administration. The U.S. Customs Department
alone is hiring 11,000 people to help patrol the U.S. border. In the long-term,
President Obama's stimulus plan hopes to create more than 3.5 million jobs by
the end of 2010 if it passes, of course.
- Census Bureau: Like to count? With the national "once-a-decade" head count
coming in 2010, the Census Bureau is hiring thousands of temporary part-time
workers.
- Unemployment offices: No, that's not a typo yes, the place where you pick
up a check for being unemployed needs people to hand out those checks.
Unemployment offices across the nation are being overwhelmed by the waves of
layoffs. Pennsylvania and North Carolina are hiring hundreds of temporary and
full-time workers statewide to help with the crush.
- H&M: The Swedish retailer, which has stores in 33 countries, including more
than 100 locations in the U.S., was among the few bright spots on the earnings
front last week when it announced "strong" profits and the creation of up to
7,000 new jobs. It plans on opening 225 new stores this year, "most of them in
Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States."
- Tesco: The British supermarket chain, which has locations in the U.S., Asia
and Europe, also reported strong sales and announced it would be creating
10,000 new jobs.
Other industries that are expected to be hiring, not firing: health care,
hospitals, bio-tech firms, IT and environmental technologies.
At the end of the day, one important lesson seems to be: Find a "safe" job. It
may seem counterintuitive to leave your job voluntarily when so many are being
shown the door, but Reuters reports it's a growing trend these days and a
smart one:
"Some organizations use downturns to go out and capture the top talent in the
industry from competitors that are hurting," said Peter Stark, business
consultant and author.
Ironically, it's the jobs that are sometimes seen as dead-end or poorly
compensated (government jobs, teaching) that are now considered the hottest
and safest to have. AP reports that this recession is sparing few industries;
blue-collar workers, white-collar workers and everyone in between continue to
get hit. Here's hoping that the folks on Capitol Hill who are still battling
over the stimulus package remember that the clock is ticking.
- Lili Ladaga