Which Companies Are Hiring Right Now?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your Money Briefing for Friday, October 16th. I'm Charlie Turner for The Wall Street Journal. The coronavirus pandemic has thrown tens of millions of people out of work, but in certain parts of the labor market, there's been a hiring boom.
There's kind of this two-track recovery emerging, as some companies and careers show signs of prospering, while others have fallen victims to lockdowns and changing consumer behaviors.
Our reporter Patrick Thomas will talk about where the jobs are as we head toward the holidays. That's after the break.
When the pandemic hit earlier this year, the U.S. lost more than 22 million jobs in March and April. And even though there have continued to be exceptionally high numbers of layoffs since then, employers have added back around half the jobs that were lost. What this means is that in many industries, there's a hiring boom. To talk about it, we're joined now by our reporter, Patrick Thomas.
Which industries are still hiring during the pandemic and where are the jobs?
Patrick, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So, Patrick, let's get right into it. What are some of the industries that are placing help wanted ads and looking to hire more people right now?
Well, there's a few industries that are still hiring. And obviously, a lot of people have lost their job and we are in a recession. But there's kind of this we've talked about this before. There's kind of this two track recovery emerging as some companies and careers show signs of prospering. while others have fallen victims to lockdowns and changing consumer behaviors. So some of the places we're seeing are online retail, obviously Amazon being the biggest, and they've announced a couple of times this year is they're going to go on big hiring sprees.
Why are online retail and cloud computing companies adding employees now?
We've seen from other tech companies that specialize in helping Places such as retailers and restaurants bulk up their digital capabilities. Places that specialize in cloud computing, such as ServiceNow. A lot of new age companies that are doing some hiring who have really gotten a benefit from everybody's doing digital now, right? Schools are online. Restaurants are trying to do online options for takeout. Retailers are trying to be more e-commerce friendly to mimic Amazon in a way. So you have a lot of these tech companies that specialize in that bulking up on their hiring as well. In that same way, we're seeing customer service companies that need people to man the phones and talk people through online.
Financial services, Fidelity Investments said they need 4,000 additional workers around the US. Those are some of the other ways that we're seeing more hiring.
So what's the common thread among those industries? Why are they able to hire in this economy that's still struggling while other sectors aren't?
Well, like I said, in a way, it's a lot of the places that are helping some of the struggling companies that during this time that need them to help digitize is the word. They need to help them go digital. I mentioned ServiceNow. It's a cloud computing company. That they need engineering and product development, more engineers to help companies build their clouds online as they take more orders from e-commerce. There's, in the customer service realm again, that T-tech holdings. They need to help companies digitize. They need people on the phones if a consumer has questions online. Again, in financial services, we're seeing a lot of roles in technology and product development. In financial services specifically, the demand reflects a lot of the surging stock market trading volume and uptick in inquiries from customers about their 401ks and other investments during the pandemic.
So those are just a few of the areas that haven't been hit quite as hard by some of the lockdowns we're seeing that It hit bars and restaurants. These are some of the areas that were not necessarily immune, but not hit quite as hard or are needed more than ever to make up in some of the areas that have been hurt.
OK, Patrick, in your article, you mentioned home mortgage firms.
How are customer service and financial-services firms expanding hiring needs?
Why is that a hot hiring industry?
Yeah, it's been booming, especially there's the low interest rates that came earlier in the year as the pandemic hit.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–1:05
2
Which industries are still hiring during the pandemic and where are the jobs?
1:05–1:47
3
Why are online retail and cloud computing companies adding employees now?
1:47–4:16
4
How are customer service and financial-services firms expanding hiring needs?
4:16–4:47
5
Why are home mortgage companies experiencing a hiring boom?
4:47–5:47
6
Will seasonal holiday hiring look different this year and which retailers are hiring?
5:47–7:17
7
How are companies adjusting pay and incentives to attract workers during COVID-19?
7:17–7:35
8
What should job seekers consider when applying for pandemic-era roles?
7:35–7:40
Speakers
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