Amid the government quarantine, many people are facing an uncertain future in terms of their employment, with Forbes reporting that nearly 17 million people have been laid off as of March 30th, with the possibility of many more on the horizon. In the wake of mass layoffs and company closures, almost everyone who faced layoffs is searching for a new job, but with limited options. As a result, it’s become even more difficult to find companies that are hiring. Despite this, several industries are currently hiring in droves for in house employees, while others are currently switching their employment options from in house and looking to hire remote workers. Additionally, many companies are also looking for temporary help, which gives options to people who have jobs but are not able to work due to cutbacks. Whether you work in the service industry, retail, health or many other industries, chances are that there’s a company out there who’s looking for someone with your skill sets in this difficult time.
As a college student, I’ve recently found myself having to become familiar with the application Zoom. Zoom is used for online meetings and communications and, as a result, has seen a surge in use and popularity throughout various industries. Due to increased demand for Zoom and similar online meeting services such as Slack and Microsoft Teams are hiring more employees for either in-office or remote positions. Jobs ranging from IT and customer support to business analytics, customer success management, and various other positions have opened up, with a total of 214 positions posted on Slack alone, and another 4540 on the Microsoft Team’s site. One drawback to this is that many of these companies are hiring for certain positions in specific cities, however, they also provide a variety of remote jobs that require similar skill sets.
Another industry that is currently hiring in droves is the shipping and delivery industry, specifically Amazon, who is currently hiring 100,000 workers, both full-time and part-time. Amazon has also stated that they are increasing wages throughout April from $15/hr to $17/hr. Due to shipping industries being an essential business, especially in today’s day and age, UPS and various mail carriers are also looking to fill several positions during the government lockdown.
Healthcare, specifically pharmacies and healthcare companies are both hiring in-house and remote workers. CVS is currently looking for Health Management Nurses and in-store workers, while Amerihealth Caritas and UnitedHealth Group are looking for professionals who can perform document analysis and clinical audits, as well as care managers and coordinators. The health industry, even the parts outside of doctor’s offices and hospitals are in serious need of workers to help them through this period where they are most likely facing levels of traffic like they have never seen before and are going to need help controlling it.
Probably one of the most in-demand industries at the moment is grocery and food delivery. During the initial panic-buying stage, several food providers found themselves overwhelmed and understaffed, and as a result, need to hire more workers for shelf stocking, late-night shifts, and delivery. Grocery delivery is also a great way to help out your community, as many older people don’t want to leave their homes over health concerns and are relying on these services. Additionally, as most restaurants are no longer allowing dine-in options, for the time being, most have resorted to take-out and delivery only. Food delivery services such as GrubHub, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and many others have become essential for many places to remain afloat while they can no longer serve in-house. Additionally, many of these services are work at your own pace and don’t require strict schedules, so it’s even possible to pick these up for extra cash if you’re already working another job!
While it’s certainly a hard time to find work for everyone, it’s not impossible in the least. As the old saying goes “when one door closes, another one opens”, and while we may be looking at many closed doors, for the time being, it’s important to find ones that remain open and make our way through them. There are plenty of opportunities out there for everyone, we just need to dig a bit deeper to find them.