If you’re a job seeker, this is not the time to adopt a retreat or wait-it-out attitude despite the outward signs. Yes, the current Covid-19 pandemic has extracted an enormous toll on the national and global economy and the ranks of the newly unemployed are swelling by the millions in the United States alone.
Nevertheless, even in the worst of times fresh opportunities exist, and with the societal and workplace upheavals wrought by the coronavirus, a number of companies are hiring like crazy to keep pace with the surge in demand for their products and services, partly in response to demand created by the crisis and partly to get ahead of the competition.
Hot-to-hire positions include artificial intelligence specialists, robotics engineers, data scientists, full stack engineers, site reliability engineers, data engineers, cyber security specialists, back-end developers, cloud engineers, and JavaScript developers. Even if you don’t qualify for any of these fields, high-tech companies are also in extreme need of sales staff, customer service team members, office workers, and personnel specialists.
I salute many companies for their fortitude and acumen, as evidenced by their expanded hiring during this time of medical and economic crisis. Let’s hope that more companies will follow suit by retooling or reinventing themselves to adapt to the pandemically impacted economy.
The wise approach is to seize the opportunity and charge full speed ahead, possibly with a focus on some companies (a few of which I’ll list below) that are expanding their workforce right now. Here is a sampling:
Amazon: This one seems almost obvious. With the widespread closure of shopping malls and most brick and mortar retailers, the e-commerce behemoth is in a hiring frenzy, with 75,000 new jobs already available. A word of caution however: Amazon has been accused in a number of circles of not providing adequate protection from Covid-19 infection for some employees. It makes sense to see how the company has responded recently.
Apple: The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Apple is increasing hiring for software engineers and retail workers now as it has during previous economic downturns. Apple has also publicly committed to hiring 1,000 paid interns this summer to fill a mix of online and in person positions.
Costco: The long lines snaking around Costco stores are proof enough that business is booming for the warehouse giant. Many people are needed urgently to help Costco manage this increase in sales and shoppers.
CVS: The national drug store chain needs 50,000 additional employees to keep up with demand. Staffers willing to work directly with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 patients will receive cash bonuses.
Facebook: Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, said recently the company will hire 10,000 people in 2020. If you have skills in software engineering, data management, user interface design, or marketing, you could be one of these people.
Fidelity Investments: The pandemic-induced plunge of the stock market has spurred many investors to re-balance their portfolios to better weather the storm. This situation has caused Fidelity to accelerate its hiring of approximately 2,000 people beyond the thousands that it regularly hires annually. If your expertise is in financial planning and/or customer service, there may be a job at Fidelity just waiting for you.
Google: With the Internet more important than ever as the forum for business and social contact, Google is actively hiring engineering and support professionals to meet user demands and to explore new business opportunities. Your STEM-related skills are in high demand at the search engine colossus.
Microsoft: The collaborative virtual workplace has stimulated Microsoft’s needs for software engineers, sales professionals, technicians, and support team personnel.
Netflix: Shelter-in-place has generated a massive spike in demand for services that stream entertainment, especially Netflix. New positions abound in both technical and service roles.
Target: The something-for-everyone mega-retailer is hiring in-store and distribution center hourly full-time and part-time workers.
Uber: The demand for delivery services has increased enormously. In particular, Uber Eats - Uber's food delivery offshoot, is seeking more drivers.
Walgreens: Another national drug store chain with about 9,500 new full and part-time positions, including pharmacy techs, shift leads, and customer service reps.
Walmart: The company is scrambling to fill about 150,000 temporary positions in stores, clubs, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers. It's also working with restaurant and hospitality industries workers who have lost their jobs because of Covid-19.
Zoom: An obscure provider of Internet video conferencing just a few months ago, Zoom is so popular now that its name is practically a verb, as in “Let’s Zoom at 4 PM.” With so many people working and video conferencing from home, Zoom urgently needs tech support, engineers, business services reps, and other professionals to fill out its team.
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