Startling economic discovery: New jobs
Firm's replacing lost employees

by T. Shawn Taylor - Tribune staff reporter
Published October 27, 2003 - Chicago Tribune

Michael Raimondi's latest job search was so 1999, when jobs spilled out like jelly beans.

The 27-year-old Chicagoan starts this week with General Electric in a position that pays 15 percent more a year and comes with a $5,000 signing bonus, a relic from the new economy hiring boom that is almost unheard of today.
"Actually, I had two competing offers," said Raimondi, who said he got the maximum salary for his position. "The signing bonus was kind of a surprise."

To job seekers who can't even score a callback, Raimondi's experience is a throwback to better times when offers were plentiful and job seekers had the upper hand.

But as rough as the employment terrain has been in recent years and for all the talk by economists of a "jobless recovery," there is encouraging news: Jobs are making a comeback.

Employers eager to promote and produce new products and services are gradually replacing workers lost through layoffs and attrition. Other jobs are being created through acquisitions and business expansion.

One big wild card, of course, is a potential war with Iraq. But for now, those who dare to hire are cautiously optimistic.

"There are jobs out there for the people who want to work," said Linda Paulk, president of Snelling Personnel Services. "I think it's just a matter of tapping into every resource."

Though labor economists say significant job gains won't take hold before midyear and the unemployment rate could rise again, they add the worst is over.

"I definitely think we're seeing a more aggressive market this year," said Mike Farrell, a manager at Manpower Professional in Gurnee, a recruiter of technology, engineering, chemistry and health-care workers.

Chicago's job market is doing slightly better than other large cities, Farrell said. The entry-level market here is heating up, and temporary hiring increased in the last three months, Paulk said. That's usually a good indication that the market is starting to turn.

Steven Davis, professor of international business and economics at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, concurs.

"Growth has been slow. Job growth in particular. But I'm not sure `jobless recovery' captures what's happening," he said. "Lots of new jobs are being created."

The insurance, finance and accounting industries are looking for midlevel managers. Construction and sales are gearing up as employers start to remodel and revamp their businesses. Administrative and support people are being sought in growth industries such as real estate, mortgage lending, banking, finance and accounting.

Many openings in health care

Health-care jobs are hot but go beyond the well-publicized nursing and home health-care worker shortages. More than half of the openings in health care are non-clinical positions, and most do not require prior health-care experience, said Robin Fell, vice president of workforce planning and staffing for Advocate Health Care in Chicago.

"We have a little more than 1,000 job openings," Fell said. "We need to provide a full range of support services."

Advocate is hiring workers at all skill levels, from housekeeping to clerical and from radiology technicians to accounts payable. The organization has a shortage of pharmacy workers and even some opportunities in midlevel management, Fell said.

Real estate and mortgage firms are hiring support staff, managers and lending officers.

Cindy Crutchfield, an administrative assistant, lost her job Dec. 31 to downsizing. She started her new job Jan. 2 as assistant to the president of Leasing and Management, a Chicago real estate firm.

"I saw an ad in the Sunday [paper]. They got me in right away for an interview. It was the first resume I sent and the first interview I had," said Crutchfield, a former Marine who has 13 years of secretarial and administrative experience but no college degree. "I never expected it to happen so fast."

Sales and marketing jobs are also picking up, especially in pharmaceuticals, but employers are being selective about who they hire, said Mark Stevens of Snelling's sales and marketing division in Chicago.

"The ones getting hired now are those with good track records, solid verifiable skills and good references," Stevens said. "Three or four years ago, anyone who wanted to could get into sales."

Employers are taking longer to screen candidates and are generally pickier about who they bring on board. This trend extends across all industries, but is especially prevalent in health care and in government jobs such as airport security.

"They're hiring like crazy but there is a high barrier to getting those jobs," said Leora Baumgarten, director of marketing and recruitment of New Office, a local staffing firm. "There's a lot of testing and background checking. It's challenging to get those people on board."

Insurance companies such as Kemper and CNA and banks such as Harris, ABN Amro and Bank One have continued to hire through the downturn. An estimated 300 new bank branches are slated to open in Chicagoland this year.

"We're hiring people in Chicago every week. We have people give a welcome speech every Monday morning to the new group of hires. [Last] week, there were 37 people," said Tom Kelly, spokesman for Bank One.

Even the hard-hit technology industry is stirring.

Bank One has hired 1,500 tech workers in the last 16 months in Columbus, Ohio, and in Chicago, said Kelly. He urged workers with retail experience and transferable skills to apply for branch jobs.

Learning a new skill is a plus

Staffing and career professionals encourage workers in industries that are slow to recover, such as telecommunications, manufacturing and information technology, to learn a skill that is in demand or to apply their current skills to similar positions in industries that are percolating.

Gabriele Garcia, who was laid off as a television production manager in June, recently started working as a manager of real estate operations for a Chicago real estate firm.

"I wasn't necessarily looking for real estate. Just something different where I could use my managerial skills," said Garcia. But she took a hefty pay cut in the process.

That's not surprising, observers said. Employers are being conservative in their offers, but those in search of the top talent are compensating well.

"Because they are looking for the perfect person, they are willing to pay that person when they find them," said Chuck Smith, president of New Office.

That makes it all the more important to get your resume in the hands of the person making the hiring decision. Smith cautions job seekers against sending hundreds of resumes over the Internet.

"That is not going to do it. Stick to your guns and look for the jobs that are right for you. Not any kind of job," he said.