Every year, retailers gearing up for the holiday season bring on a large number of temporary workers whose job it will be to help manage hoards of consumers on peak shopping days throughout the season. However, wrangling shoppers is not the only job that becomes available during the holiday season. As Anna Maria Andriotis of SmartMoney recently reported, there are a number of large employers who need to fill vacancies during the holidays and are looking for new full-time permanent and temporary employees. Although many of the employers, Andriotis singles out, cannot be classified as so-called economic engines (those businesses or sectors whose good and bad days have a pervasive impact on the economy as a whole), they are growing (for the most part), and are in need of some extra hands.
Andriotis singles out five employers who will be looking to increase their workforce numbers this coming holiday. Among them are:
- Wells Fargo. As Andriotis admits, it is somewhat odd that Wells Fargo makes the list insofar as the banking sector, despite its expansion and positive growth, has yet to quite make it out of the woods. Nevertheless, Andriotis notes that refinance and new home purchase numbers have been rising, leading Wells to believe that this positive trend will not only continue, but that the numbers will rise. A spokeswoman from the bank recently announced that “the bank is adding about 5,000 new positions in the next two months [November 2010 and December 2010] at loan processing centers nationwide—including Denver, Minneapolis and Charlotte.”
- Hewlett-Packard. Like Wells Fargo, HP has hit some rough patches recently, however, unlike Wells Fargo, HP’s desire to hire is, oddly, the result of cost-cutting measures across the company. Though the positions for which it is hiring are temporary, HP is in need of techies “with server or database experience.” Andriotis speculates that although “HP declined to comment [on the pay scale for such temporary workers]…median hourly pay for computer hardware engineers according to BLS, is $47.51.”
- Global Experience Specialists. Las Vegas-based Global Experiences Specialists is a company which helps put on exhibitions and conventions. Andriotis reports that business has increased 2.2% over last year for GES, which is looking to hire an additional 50 employees over the next two months. With exhibitions, conventions, and offices around the nation, there are, and will be, opportunities for job seekers with event management-related skills and experience in major cities across the nation.
- Market Star. Ever imagine how some retail stores have one or two staff members whose knowledge of the product they’re selling is not only impressive, but staggeringly shocking? Market Star trains these ringers and then dispatches them to chain stores around the nation. Andriotis remarks that while other retailers are looking for ways to save, Utah-based Market Star is bringing on an additional 1,000 people this year, and though some of the jobs it’s offering are temporary “those who excel could land a full-time position after the holidays.”
- Red Ventures. Red Ventures, a marketing firm which “promotes [satellite TV and high-speed internet] products and services, among others, online,” and which has been profiting from the war raging between satellite TV and high-speed internet providers, is looking for new employees with all different skill sets—from marketing pros to novices. According to Andriotis, Red Ventures “plans to hire around 340 employees in Charlotte, N.C., Fort Mill, S.C., and Miami in the next two months.”
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