Home improvement retailer Home Depot is renewing its spring hiring drive with plans to add as many as 1,000 seasonal workers at its greater Sacramento-area locations, officials said last week.
Positions range from cashiers to garden, sales and lot associates, said spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher. Home Depot plans to hire about 30 to 35 workers per store.
The temporary jobs are about four months in length, Gallagher said, but the seasonal hires have a chance to stay on full time.
"While they are temporary, seasonal positions, if it is the right fit, there's the potential to become a permanent position," Gallagher said.
About half of Home Depot's seasonal hires stayed on as permanent workers in 2011.
Spring is the busiest sales and hiring season for the Atlanta-based retailer, which expects to hire 70,000 seasonal workers chainwide this year, officials said.
"Just as holiday hiring ends for many retailers, we begin recruiting for spring seasonal associates to help customers during our busiest selling season," said Tim Crow, a Home Depot executive vice president, announcing the recruiting effort.
Hiring will begin to pick up over the next several weeks depending on the market, officials said. But job seekers can apply online now at careers.homedepot.com.
Those without Internet access can apply at in-store computer kiosks.
Home Depot has 10 area locations in Carmichael, Elk Grove, Natomas, Rancho Cordova, Sacramento and West Sacramento.
Displaced workers get aid
More than 800 displaced workers in San Joaquin County will get help to transition back into the workforce after the county's employment department was awarded nearly $1 million for on-the-job training and other career assistance.
"Bottom line, it's a difficult time for looking for work. We will have the resources to eliminate barriers to employment," said John Solis, executive director of San Joaquin County Employment and Economic Development Department.
The grant from the state's Employment Development Department totaling $986,211 comes after San Joaquin County was struck by a series of plant and call center closures and layoffs last summer.
Workers in government, transportation, manufacturing and health care were hit by the layoffs. The unemployment rate in the hard-hit county soared above 18 percent last January, said Pam Harris, EDD chief deputy director.
The state funds, announced last week, are expected to be available in February, Solis said, with some of the dollars going to reimburse businesses that train and hire displaced workers.
"Some of these incentives give employers opportunities" to hire, Solis said. "A lot of emerging companies can take advantage. We want to help them make that hiring decision."
