By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber, Ap
Economics Writer Tue Mar 10, 12:21 am ET
Help wanted: pharmacists, engineers and nurses. Believe it or not, even some
banks are hiring, at least for their technology teams. While the recession has
claimed 4.4 million jobs, the economy has created others, many of them for
highly trained and specialized professionals. More than 2 million jobs openings
now exist across a range of industries, according to government data.
Job seekers beware, though. An average of nearly five people are competing for
each opening. That's up sharply from a ratio of less than 2-to-1 in December
2007, when the recession was just starting and nearly 4 million openings
existed.
Human resources executives say companies that are hiring are benefiting from a
top-notch talent pool as applications pour in from a larger base of job
seekers. The number of unemployed Americans has soared, to 12.5 million last
month, from 7 million when the recession began. professionals.
Broadly, jobs are being added in education, health care and the federal
government, the Labor Department said, with the government adding 9,000 new
jobs last month alone.
But beyond those areas, jobs can be found in a variety of sectors. Some places
that are hiring, such as companies that make nuclear power equipment, haven't
been hit that hard by the recession. Others, such as discount retailers, are
actually benefiting from the downturn as shoppers turn thriftier.
Even some businesses at the center of the economic meltdown are managing to add
a few employees. Banks involved in recent mergers, for example, are hiring
information technology specialists to help integrate companies, said Tig
Gilliam, chief executive of the Adecco Group North America, a human resources
firm.
Some mortgage lending companies, notably those never involved in subprime or
other exotic loans, are actually growing and hiring as larger competitors have
folded.
"We've been busy," said Terry Schmidt, chief financial officer of Guild
Mortgage Co. in California, whose company has doubled in size, from around 450
to close to 900 employees, in the past year and a half.
The new hires originate home loans and process them, among other duties.
"We're finding that the talent pool the level of talent and experience is much
better than we've ever had," Schmidt said.
Mortgage servicing companies those that collect payments for the lenders that
originated them are also hiring as lower mortgage rates fuel mortgage refinance
applications.
Marina Walsh, associate vice president of industry analysis at the Mortgage
Bankers Association, said servicers "are just scrambling for workers."
The nuclear power industry, meanwhile, doesn't seem to have noticed the
economic downturn. It is adding thousands of jobs as it gears up to build as
many as 26 new nuclear power plants in the next decade.
Corporations such as Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Company and GE
Hitachi Nuclear Energy are hiring engineers and adding other workers as they
expand manufacturing facilities, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, a
trade group. (GE Hitachi is a partnership between General Electric Co. and
Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd.)
Engineers of all kinds are in demand and are facing a rock-bottom jobless rate
of about 3 percent, according to Gilliam of the Adecco Group North America.
That compares with a nationwide unemployment rate of 8.1 percent last month.
Adecco is trying to fill about 1,200 engineering jobs, Gilliam said. They
include product engineers who test the next generation of computer equipment,
he said.
Other bright spots in an otherwise dismal labor market:
Pharmacists: An aging U.S. population is taking more medicine and pharmacists
are taking more time helping patients with chronic diseases manage their
dosages, said Douglas Scheckelhoff of the American Society of Health System
Pharmacists.
There is a 6 percent shortage of hospital pharmacists, Scheckelhoff said, while
many drug stores are also looking to hire new pharmacists and pharmacist
technicians, he said.
Nurses: Hospitals also need more nurses to care for the aging population and to
replace those nearing retirement, said Cheryl Peterson, director of nursing
practice and policy at the American Nurses Association. Hospitals added 7,000
jobs of all kinds last month, even as the economy overall shed 651,000.
Veterinarians: "There's a tremendous demand" for veterinarians, particularly to
serve livestock growers in rural areas, said Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief executive
officer of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The government is also
short of veterinarians needed to inspect slaughterhouses and undertake other
food safety measures, he said. The Labor Department projects that the number of
veterinary jobs will grow by 35 percent by 2016, DeHaven said.
Some companies are benefiting from the recession as shoppers shift to
lower-priced stores. The economy has lost more than 600,000 retail jobs since
the slowdown began, but discount retailer Family Dollar Stores Inc. is hiring.
The company plans to hire new workers for 200 stores it expects to open this
year, said spokesman Josh Braverman, and will also add employees at some of its
nine distribution centers. Family Dollar saw its sales at stores open at least
a year rise by 6.4 percent in the three months ending in February.
Other companies prospering amid the economic gloom include liquidators firms
that sell the assets of troubled businesses.
Bill Angrick, chief executive of Washington, D.C.-based Liquidity Services
Inc., which operates the Web site Liquidation.com, said his company expects
record profits for the first quarter. Among the items his company liquidates
are vehicles and networking and communications equipment.
Julie Davis, a spokeswoman for the firm, said it has openings for at least 10
people in its sales, marketing, operations and finance departments.
"We are absolutely in hiring mode," she said. The company employs about 700
people worldwide.
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AP Business Writers Jeannine Aversa and Daniel Lovering contributed to this
report.