By Ben Popken -
NBC News
The job boom in the coronavirus vaccine industry consists of shipping boxes, delivering injections, opening doors and servicing floors.
And the workers assure that this does not suit their abilities, so they retire or accept other different positions even if they have a lower salary.
Truckers, nurses
, salespeople and managers are some of the jobs most in demand during the economic recovery in the United States after the worst of the pandemic, according to an aggregate of all the online job postings collected by the ZipRecruiter job site.
Driving trucks is by far the most requested task, with
more than 1.3 million jobs
open for different types of drivers, from semi-trailers to local delivery.
[The IRS will send additional stimulus payments to those who have already filed taxes and qualify for a larger check]
High demand from consumers emerging from the pandemic with a renewed appetite for spending, and continued pressure on logistics to untangle supply chains affected by the disruption of the pandemic, are leading companies to go the extra mile. to hire drivers.
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc., a large freight forwarding company in the United States, announced last week that it was increasing the salary of drivers;
it is the last trucking company to do so, and it said
wages were up 40%
.
Companies are expanding training academies and organizing makeshift schools to try to boost recruitment.
Hiring is also strong in the
nursing
sector
with 320,000 job
openings.
Retail is trying to staff itself to open its doors with nearly 270,000 open jobs for sales associates.
There are also
more than 115,000 job openings for assistant principals
and CEOs, and about 100,000 jobs available for customer service representatives and warehouse workers.
The number of applications for unemployment benefits reaches its lowest level
April 15, 202100: 35
"
The pandemic has changed the economy
and created all kinds of jobs," said Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter.
"We are seeing a huge demand for pharmacy workers who can help administer vaccines," he said.
"We are seeing a huge demand for logistics workers."
[Tax credit of up to $ 3,600 per child: Confirm that payments will begin to arrive in July]
In total
there are more than 15 million open jobs
, according to online advertisements.
The number of unemployed people remains at nearly 10 million, creating a disconnect between available jobs and willing workers.
The lag in the labor force participation rate
leads
companies to
blame
recently expanded
unemployment payments
for the inability to attract candidates.
Some employers say they find it difficult to compete with unemployment benefits, especially after being hit so hard for an entire year.
"Applications have been exhausted," says Mike Hain, director of human resources for Salamander Resort & Spa, in Middleburg, Virginia.
"
The only people looking are college and high school students
. In Virginia, an unemployed person earns $ 17 an hour, more than most hospitality jobs pay."
[Did you notice a rise in the price of food and gasoline? Get ready because you will continue]
Many of the available positions are front-line and cannot be done from home.
This is problematic for two reasons: Workers continue to fear the virus and its variants - only a quarter of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated - and nearly half of job seekers say they want telecommuting, even after from the pandemic, according to a ZipRecruiter survey.
However, workers who
value telecommuting more highly
, such as women and black workers, are underrepresented in some of the sectors most likely to allow telecommuting, such as finance and technology.
"There is good news with vaccines. But they are difficult environments to work in. People keep getting sick," said Bhushan Sethi, global co-director of people and organizations at consulting agency PwC.
"I cannot stress enough the real concern of people who ask, 'Am I safe?'
While some of these vacant jobs
can pay up to $ 45 an hour
, others pay as little as $ 12 in median salary, according to data from salary site Salary.com.
This might not be enough to attract workers.
[New York approves aid for undocumented workers excluded from federal stimulus]
Chris Fusco, Senior Vice President of Compensation for Salary.com, reviewed the top job openings available.
To be above the federal poverty level, a family of four with two children under the age of 18 would need an
annual income of more than $ 26,246
.
That's achievable in the jobs he analyzed if they're full-time, he said.
The prices of food and gasoline continue to rise.
What causes this rise?
April 14, 202101: 42
However, "if you work part-time in most declared jobs, you could be below the poverty level in most family structures," Fusco said in an email.
Job seekers say employers, unsure how to measure return on foot traffic, are asking employees to
be flexible with their hours.
[The Government extends the ban on evictions for non-payment of rent until June 30]
Derrick McClure, a 31-year veteran of Pflugerville, Texas, said he had job opportunities at both Chase Bank and the United States Postal Service.
They both only promised to give him
part-time hours
, but asked him to be available to work up to almost 40 hours a week.
That makes planning the family budget or obligations difficult, he said.
"I put my family first,
" McClure said in an email.
"Politely and frustratingly I have to turn down these positions that would be perfect for me, but have no stability in the schedule."
Others say their position has been eliminated and that they are now unable to find a job for their level of experience.
Stephen Defilippis, a 43-year-old civil engineer from New Orleans, says he
doesn't find
open
jobs
in his field or level of experience, only for senior engineers or engineering trainees.
You are now working a new job for less pay.
[Is a fourth stimulus check possible? It is likely that there will be more aid due to the pandemic, know what they are and if you could obtain them]
"As in the last recession, we are expected to lower our salaries and our careers because universities are producing a lot of
graduates who will work for less,
" he told NBC News in an email.
"Many of the jobs that appear do not usually match the skill set of those who lost their jobs."
"It seems that many companies have decided to rationalize using the pandemic as an excuse," he said.
"I've been applying across the country on a regular basis, so much so that
I'm running out of jobs to apply for
."