The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report in December 2020 outlining the state of the labor market, and sales numbers from the holiday retail season have confirmed predictions about the explosion in the e-commerce sector. The holiday season brought some new shifts in the kinds of jobs available.
A few key factors in the last quarter of 2020 include the steady shift of business from retail, government and other brick and mortar-dependent sectors to tech and e-commerce.
Here’s an overview of the New Year hiring highlights:
- 245,000 New Jobs
- E-commerce Sales And Hiring Increases
- Job Training Focus
- Stimulus Holiday Package
Retail New Year Hiring & Sales
Notable job gains in November occurred in transportation and warehousing, professional and business services, and health care, while declines in government and retail trade continued.
Amazon continued to dominate the burgeoning e-commerce world, continuing their global hiring spree to keep up with demand, and brick-and-mortars saw a 52% drop in Black Friday sales.
Walmart and Target also hired in large numbers to support e-commerce operations, along with a swath of independent e-tailers. In fact, warehousing and assorted combined industries created 145,000 of the 245,000 new jobs November.
But warehouse workers are not the only roles Amazon needs to fill: software engineers and hardware specialists are essential to support cloud computing, streaming entertainment and devices, which have boomed in the pandemic.
UPS and FedEx are also on an upward hiring trend, which is expected to continue with the distribution of the new coronavirus vaccine. Walgreens and CVS will be adding to their teams nationwide as well.
Training has emerged as a very attractive incentive for job seekers and a necessary solution to fill positions in machine learning, AI, Big Data, cloud computing, and other growth sectors.
Stimulus New Year Package
The government stimulus package passed in late December. The package provides jobless benefits until March 14 ( $300 per week) and a one-time payment of $600 for those who make less than $75,000 a year. Modifications were made to the Paycheck Protection Program to prevent the funds from being funneled to a few larger companies like sports teams, high-income law firms, and national restaurant chains like we saw with the first package in March. $12 billion was set aside specifically for minority-owned businesses.
Whatever your hiring goals are going into 2021, we can provide the support you need to recruit in bulk and hire fast with virtual job fairs or private virtual recruiting. Happy New Year and happy hiring!