HispanicBusiness

Terry McGreehan, general manager of ADP's West Side center, said ADP expects to hire 75 to 100 people in El Paso this year. It currently has about 40 openings, he reported last week.

ADP now employs about 1,100 people at its main facility at 1854 N. Resler in the Northwest Corporate industrial park, and in the 100 N. Stanton Tower Downtown. The employees provide payroll and human resources services to business customers nationwide, and provide auto-dealer-related services. The jobs involve complex business matters, and usually require a college degree.

California based Hewlett-Packard, or HP, another Fortune 500 company, last summer completed expansion of its El Paso software applications and development center in the Northwest Corporate industrial park.

The company employs several hundred technology professionals in El Paso, but it did not divulge its local employment numbers.

Since 2011, HP has hired more than 260 people here, El Paso Times reports show, and HP officials have said the company will continue hiring in El Paso this year.

Early this month, it held a job fair to fill 50 jobs, including software developers, testers, project managers and data analysts. The jobs typically require a bachelor's degree, or a technical degree, and experience in software-related jobs.

El Paso's large call center industry usually has many job openings throughout the year. For example, the Dish Network, a provider of satellite TV service, plans to hire about 100 call-takers in the next two to three months at its large call center at 1285 Joe Battle on the East Side, said Aaron Johnson, a Dish spokesman at its Denver-area headquarters.

"We're looking for people throughout the year," because the large center always has job turnover, Johnson said.

It looks for bilingual people fluent in English and Spanish, and English speakers for the jobs, which are open to anyone age 18 and older and with a high school diploma or equivalent, he said.

"We train employees" so experience in a call center is not required, Johnson said.

Dish recently increased its starting wage to $10 and $10.50 per hour, with the higher wage for bilingual workers, he said.

The El Paso construction industry has job openings due to some large construction projects under way and more planned. Fullerton, the UTEP economics professor, said the construction industry should be an "ongoing source of strength" in El Paso's job market this year.

About 200 people showed up Friday at a construction industry job fair at Workforce Solutions' Downtown office. Only two companies, with only about 25 to 45 jobs, were represented at the fair, a Workforce Solutions official reported.

CF Jordan, a large El Paso general contractor, had only four jobs available at the fair. But it probably will have more jobs open later this year when it's expected to start construction of a new minor-league baseball stadium Downtown, and start a major landscaping project at UTEP, said Bea Sanchez, human resources manager at CF Jordan's El Paso headquarters. The company employs about 500 people in Texas, including about 280 people in El Paso.

"We're always on the lookout for good people, and we're always accepting applications," Sanchez said. "We're always looking for project managers, superintendents" and some field workers -- concrete finishers, carpenters and laborers, she said.

SolarCity, a California solar-installation company, is in the process of hiring about solar-panel installers and other workers for a large project at Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range.

Ceci Miles Mulvihill, president of RM Personnel, an El Paso employee staffing agency, said that despite the recent Leviton layoffs, El Paso's distribution and manufacturing industries continue to have many openings for temporary workers. Many temp jobs are open for forklift operators, and manufacturing machine operators, she said. RM Personnel employed an average of 900 temporary workers each month last year.

"The market (for temp workers) is more robust for us now, than last year at this time," Miles Mulvihill said. Some of the temp jobs turn into permanent jobs, she noted.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com, 546-6421. Follow him on Twitter @vickolenc

Job openings A sampling of companies that are hiring in El Paso: -- ADP: About 40 openings for company providing payroll and human resources services, and auto-dealer-related services. Apply online: adp.com/careers -- HP: Unspecified number of jobs for software developers, testers, project managers and data analysts. Apply online: hp.com/go/jobs -- CF Jordan: General contractor with handful of jobs for truck drivers, supervisors. Possible future jobs for concrete finishers, carpenters, laborers. Apply weekdays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., 7700 CF Jordan Drive; cfjordan.com/careers.html. -- Belt Con Construction: Hiring bricklayers. Apply weekdays, 8-10 a.m., 860 Kastrin. -- SolarCity: Hiring about 75 solar installers and other jobs. Apply online: solarcity.com/hr/careers.aspx -- Dish Network: Hiring about 100 call-takers in next few months. Apply 8 a.m.-5 p.m., weekdays, 1285 Joe Battle, or online: careers.dish.com/elpaso -- RM Personnel: Temp jobs available in distribution-manufacturing, office clerks-secretaries, accounting. Apply 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m., weekdays, 4707 Montana; rmpersonnel.com -- Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande: Public employment agency with jobs for a variety of employers. Information: 887-2000, urgjobs.com