There Is Still Work Out There

If you’ve been watching the unemployment rate climb, don’t lose hope: there is still work out there. Companies are hiring, and not just the ‘essential’ pizza delivery gigs. In fact, whole industries are flourishing during this pandemic, and they’re onboarding people left and right. 

Does it feel ghoulish to climb onto that bandwagon? If they could speak, your monthly bills would heartily disagree. Remember that while you’re keeping yourself above water, you’ll also be doing your part to keep the economy going, so you can add a dash of patriotism to the warm glow that comes from financial solvency. Seize the moment and start earning again with virus-proof jobs like these.

Digital/IT

Let’s get the easy ones out of the way—anything involving a purely digital product or IT was still flourishing during the Covid-19 shutdown. This sector was already accustomed to hiring remote workers, and their products and services are still in high demand.

In fact, many of the postings below are also looking for IT professionals, programmers, and software engineers, in addition to workers in their specific industry. 

The following are a few example job postings to give you a sense of who’s looking to hire, and what they’re looking for.

• Electronic Arts:

  https://www.ea.com/careers/careers-overview

Games are flourishing during social distancing, and EA is hiring in a wide variety of roles. If working in the games industry is your dream, this might be a prime time to break-in. 

• Zoom

  https://zoom.us/

No surprises here—what company isn’t using Zoom right now? Other work-from-home necessities, such as project management site Asana, are also hiring. 

• Google

  https://careers.google.com/jobs

Many of the tech giants—Apple, Facebook, Google, and others—are still hiring during the crisis. Naturally, demand for these jobs will be higher than ever, so competition will be fierce—but there are also plenty of openings to fight for. 

Health

Healthcare as an industry has suffered an odd series of shocks—some areas are in high demand due to Covid-19, while others languish due to the suspension of many non-emergency procedures.  

Below are some companies that are very much on the lookout for qualified healthcare professionals. These are only large, nationwide examples—many smaller companies are also on the hunt for healthcare workers of all types. 

• CVS Health:

  https://jobs.cvshealth.com/

CVS Health is actively recruiting Pharmacy Technicians, Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Licensed Vocational Nurses, Licensed Professional Nurses, and Pharmacists. 

• Bon Secours:

  https://careers.bonsecours.com

Bon Secours particularly encourages RN students and new grads to apply, and they are hosting virtual hiring events.  

• Addus HomeCare:

  https://www.addusjobs.com

Addus HomeCare is currently hiring home care aids, nurses, and CNAs all over the country.  

Financial Services

The financial industry has been hit almost as hard as healthcare by the implications of Covid-19. If you have experience with digital financial services of any stripe—banking, planning, insurance, or accounting—now is your time to shine.

• Fidelity Investments:

  https://jobs.fidelity.com

As of writing, Fidelity Investments has 800 recently posted positions on LinkedIn. The financial professionals they’re looking for include those with experience in finance and accounting, financial planning, and investment. 

• Capital One:

  https://www.capitalonecareers.com/teams-and-roles

Capital One has posted 856 open positions on LinkedIn. Areas of experience they’re looking for include business banking, commercial banking, and personal banking. 

Online/Digital Education

Since it’s uncertain when schools will reopen, online education is the way forward, at least for now. If you’re a credentialed—or, in some cases, even if you just have teaching experience—

your services may be in high demand.

• Outschool:

  https://outschool.com/teach

This is a digital platform offering teachers support to teach live video classes. It’s not a full-time job, but some educators enjoying being able to teach what they want to teach, when they want to teach it. The platform has reportedly been swamped by student demand, and some popular teachers are booked for months in advance! 

• VIPKids

  https://www.vipkid.com/teach?refereeId=3194611

If you have a Bachelor’s degree and—preferably—a teaching certification, you can teach ESL online to children in China. VIPKids is only one of the many ESL online companies that have sprung up in the last five years. 

 

Supply Chain and Retail

Service workers are on the front lines during social distancing, in every way that counts. On the one hand, candid reports from employees make it clear that shoppers’ panicked buying has been a source of stress on the job. On the other hand, many companies are taking steps to offer ‘hazard pay’ and other accommodations. Amazon, for instance, has given workers a temporary overtime pay raise, and CVS is giving employees bonuses ranging from $150 to $500. 

Following are a few want ads from major chains and corporations, but don’t overlook the mom-and-pop store in your town—as we’ll go explain in the final section, local business looks ready to boom.  

• Instacart

  https://shoppers.instacart.com

As you might expect, delivery is big business right now. Instacart is looking to onboard 300,000 new full-service shoppers to handle increased workloads during social distancing. This is mostly part-time work, not full-time jobs with benefits, but there is high demand. 

• CVS Health

  https://jobs.cvshealth.com/

We mentioned healthcare-specific postings above, but CVS Health is also looking for retail workers, warehouse distribution workers, customer service representatives, and other corporate professionals. 

• Dollar General

  https://www.careerarc.com

As of this writing, Dollar General has 68,545 open positions available all around the country.

• FedEx

  https://www.careerarc.com/job-map/dollar-general-corporation/campaign/45977

FedEx intends to hire 35,000 workers, in roles ranging from forklift operator to customs trade agent. 

• Home Depot

  https://careers.homedepot.com

Since so many homeowners appear to be killing time during quarantine with home improvement projects or building backyard chicken coops, Home Depot need all the help they can get. They’re hiring in retail as well as a number of other areas, so give their website a look and see if you can’t discover a match. 

Jobs Arriving Soon

As social distancing grinds on, whole new areas of the economy may be born and/or revitalized. It’s possible to predict which industries will flourish based on Internet searches and other measures of consumer interest. These professions may not currently have listings, but they likely will soon—so now is the time to start a little preemptive networking or, if you’re truly ambitious, going into one of these businesses for yourself.

• Insurance businesses. Consumer interest: up by a quarter. Despite the prevailing lack of cash, this crisis has demonstrated how easy it is for life to go awry—and many customers are taking steps to prepare for the next big change.
• CSAs (Community-supported agriculture businesses, usually farm-to-doorstep). Consumer interest: up by 579%. As supply chains are threatened, cooperative farming and gardening projects will take root. (See what I did there?) Getting involved in any step of this process could be a wise career move.
• Cosmetics stores. Consumer interest: up nearly triple. This one might surprise you, but the emphasis is on home beauty regimens, not make-up for hitting the club.
• Pet breeders. Consumer interest: up nearly quadruple. If you didn’t get a quarantine pet, you probably know someone who did. Related sectors such as dog training, doggie daycare, grooming, etc. should also farewell.
• Exercise equipment retailers. Consumer interest: up 424%. This signals a real commitment to fighting quarantine flab, even when consumers are stuck at home.
• Firewood services. Consumer interest: up nearly triple. Got an axe? Consumers are looking for ways to lower their heating costs this winter, and they’re willing to pay for ready-to-burn cordwood.

Conclusion

Let’s admit, this hasn’t been the Mad Max apocalypse we were all expecting. All those useful, practical skills we were told to cultivate for the new dark ages—brewing, blacksmithing, weaving, banjo-playing—have turned out to be less than necessary in our current crisis. Now we’re just stuck in our homes with banjo lesson bills and no income with which to pay them. 

Hopefully, however, I’ve demonstrated that there are real jobs still out there. No need to resort to bartering chickens for plumbing maintenance just yet! (Although, I know a guy…) In fact, if you play this crisis right, you might be able to enter your dream industry on a hiring surge, or even start your own business and cater to local demand for fresh veggies, firewood, and pet-sitting services.

Good luck out there, stay healthy, and get ready to nail that online interview!