Here’s Who’s Hiring Now

Given the near-Depression-levels of unemployment across the country, you may have thought it was impossible to find a job these days. But you might be surprised at the number of jobs available around the country in response to coronavirus demand. BILLSHARK found many major companies looking for employees.

And the total number of jobs listed below are in the hundreds of thousands. While the salaries connected with these jobs aren’t likely to make anyone rich, many of these companies have boosted pay and/or offered bonuses for their associates in order to keep people on the job and attract new workers.

• The big guys

Amazon

You may already have heard that Amazon announced 100,000 new job openings to meet the increased demand for online shopping as a result of the pandemic. These jobs are nationwide, primarily at their warehouses.

FedEx and UPS

Someone has to deliver all those e-commerce orders, and these delivery services are at the head of the pack. They’re looking for package handlers and delivery drivers.

• Retail

Walmart and Target

Because both of these big retailers sell groceries, drugs, and other essential supplies, they are open nationwide, and hiring for in-store, fulfillment, and distribution centers. Walmart has over 150,000 positions, full- and part-time, has reduced the normal two-week application process to 24 hours, and promises that some of the temporary positions may eventually convert to permanent.

Dollar General and Dollar Tree

Also deemed essential and open, both Dollar Tree and Dollar General are looking for workers across the country to fill various positions throughout their stores.

Lowe’s and Home Depot

These big-box stores, along with Ace and TrueValue, are all hiring for full- and part-time, seasonal, and temporary positions.

Finally, pretty much all grocery, drug stores, and convenience stores around the country are also hiring.

• Food delivery services

Again, with so many restricted to their homes, the demand for home delivery is through the roof.

Some of the bigger names in this category include:

• Instacart
• GoPuff
• Papa John’s
• 7-Eleven
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Domino’s
• Pizza Hut

In addition, check local and regional stores of all kinds (furniture and department stores, garden centers, hardware stores, etc.), restaurants, and pharmacy and grocery stores that may not be open to the public but do deliver online or phone-in orders. Most of them are looking for reliable drivers.

In fact, with so many brick-and-mortar stores as well as online retailers trying to satisfy the new need for home delivery of their products, if you have a reliable car, a driver’s license, and a good driving record, it’s almost impossible not to find a job anywhere in the country these days.

• Contact tracing

Contract tracing is an effort to track down and alert those who have come in contact with an individual who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

This is a whole new category of employment sparked by the pandemic. Although contract tracing has been done for years to track other contagious diseases like tuberculosis and sexually transmitted disease, the coronavirus has created a need for a veritable army of tracers, according to the National Association of County and City Health Officials, an advocacy group that supports nearly 3,000 local health departments.

The group estimates that an effective system to track down those who may have been exposed to COVID-19 will require at least 100,000 contact tracers. Other estimates put the number as high as 300,000.

And unlike the retail positions listed above, contract tracers can earn as much as $65,000 a year. Typical requirements for the job include an ability to understand (or learn) medical terminology, empathy for people, sensitivity to the delicate nature of the task, and strong interpersonal skills. This latter trait is important, experts say, because not only are you asking for and handling confidential information during a vulnerable time in people’s lives, you also need the ability to convince them self-quarantine.

To facilitate training for this new task, last week the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health announced it will offer a free online course to all who want to learn this skill. Access the six-hour course, and contact your local or state health department to find out if they’re hiring.

One final word

No job is worth your life. If you have a compromised immune system, or are otherwise susceptible to COVID-19, think twice about taking an indoor job that requires close contact with others.

And because no one is immune to this horrific disease, check with any company you apply to to find out what precautions they’ve put in place to safeguard the health of their employees.

Meanwhile, if you’re short of cash, or could just use a little extra money right now, be sure to let BILLSHARK review your bills for free. Our professional negotiators know the secrets of the big corporations and we can find you hidden savings.