Skip to main content

What Companies Are Hiring During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

grocery store checkout
Kali9/Getty Images

At a time when the news is filled with stories about people out of work, about swelling unemployment applications, and about so many of us in the American workforce who are still employed being forced to adapt to a new work-from-home paradigm, there are still a few bright spots for people looking for a job. Not every company is shedding workers off the payroll during this coronavirus pandemic. In fact, a number of companies are hiring in unprecedented numbers.

The job you score tomorrow might be cut again in a few months when COVID-19 is finally under control, but short-term employment is certainly better than a total lack of income — just make sure you balance the benefits of working with the potential hazards of putting yourself out there right now, especially if you have any underlying conditions that make you more susceptible to complications caused by illness.

(Also, if you’re not actively looking for work but are actively looking to help out in the COVID-19 response, consider volunteering with a group like the American Red Cross, which is actively seeking volunteers for everything from blood donation to food delivery assistance to virtual support positions.)

Here are some of the places that are not only open for business but are actively hiring during the days of COVID-19.

Grocery Stores

If you have a major chain grocery store nearby, you probably have a potential job at hand. Kroger plans on hiring some 20,000 new employees this month. Albertson’s (parent company of Safeway and several other brands) is hiring some 30,000 new workers. And Publix will hire about 10,000 people. The list is long. The short story is that groceries are now more essential than ever, and with more need for cleaning, delivery, and other stepped-up services, supermarkets are on a hiring blitz. (Even 7-11 is in on it, adding some 20,000 jobs in coming weeks.)

Big Retail and Hardware Stores

Lowe’s is adding 30,000 jobs. Target is adding 9,000. Home Depot is hiring. And Walmart is looking to add a staggering 150,000 new people to its payroll this spring on top of small bonuses being paid to existing employees.

Delivery Services

It probably comes as no surprise that Amazon is adding new workers, and to the tune of 100,000 new people on top of its already streamlined fulfillment model.  Instacart is adding an amazing 300,000 new full-time grocery shoppers/delivery people. And these are boom times for pizza delivery drivers, too. Pizza Hut is adding 30,000 employees, Papa John’s wants 20,000 new folks, and Dominos is adding 10,000 new employees. Also check out GrubHub, UberEats, and so on — all are likely hiring in your area. Oh, and UPS and FedEx — they’re certainly in the delivery business and are also hiring.

Remote Work Platforms

As work from home has become the new normal, tech support and communication providers have become the new face of everyday work. Slack is hiring 200 high-skill workers; Zoom is adding people in sales, engineering, finance, and more; and Microsoft, Google, and other tech companies are also still hiring, with a special focus on things like communication apps.

Pharmacies

The pharmacy is like the front lines of this epidemic: It’s where you get everything from medicine to cleaning supplies to toilet paper to food. So little wonder that CVS is hiring some 50,000 workers right now, Walgreens is looking for about 9,500 people, and others are following suit.

Dollar Stores

Often the only notable retailer in smaller towns, dollar stores are hiring in a big way during COVID-19. Dollar General is adding about 50,000 new workers this month, while Dollar Tree (called Family Dollar in some places) is adding 25,000 full- and part-time employees.

Tutors

If you have a skill set you can share with others, you can sign up to do freelance, full-time, or part-time tutoring work. Companies like Varsity Tutors are searching for folks to help meet the demands of learning in an online environment.

Editors' Recommendations

Steven John
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven John is a writer and journalist living just outside New York City, by way of 12 years in Los Angeles, by way of…
Is It Safe to Workout at the Gym During COVID-19?
best workout songs according to science man prepping for listening music in the gym unsplash

Diehard gym goers breathed a collective sigh of relief earlier in the summer as we saw (or made) social media posts celebrating being back in the gym after COVID-19 shutdowns. Whether hard at work perfecting a deep squat or just anticipating a solid bench press, we were ready to return to our clubs’ full array of equipment and friendly — if socially distanced — camaraderie. When cases began to spike again in mid-July, California governor Gavin Newsom, for example, was forced to roll back reopenings for the Golden State. Once again gyms were closed; and at-home or outdoor workouts were back in session.  

At this rate, are we sure we even want to go back to the gym? Even before COVID, gyms had a reputation for being petri-dishes for disease; spreading everything from athlete’s foot to MRSA. Maybe it’s worth putting those monthly fees toward a piece of home equipment. Well, to clear things up a little, we caught up with Dr. William Greenough from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, and also checked in on leading fitness club chain Equinox’s reopening standard. 
It’s Just Common Sense
Dr. Greenough emphasizes that the precautions you can take in headed back to the gym are not so much a medical issue, it’s more about using common sense. 

Read more
The Most Luxurious Things You Can Buy to Upgrade Your Home Office
best luxury products home office officev2

The 2020 coronavirus lockdown saw a staggering shift from work done in the office to employees working remotely from home. In the space of a few weeks in the early spring, the percentage of people working from home swelled to around 42% of the entire American workforce. For reference, before the pandemic, just over 5% of U.S. workers operated exclusively from home, based on data from 2o17.

With COVID-19 case numbers spiking, many people are likely to remain remote for many weeks or even months to come, and some people report plans to stick with a work-from-home arrangement even once offices are allowed to re-open.

Read more
Need to Dress up Your Office Space? Turn to This Portland Design Company
grovemade office brand review 2

For most of us, our home office is a purely functional space. On the rare occasion when we’re allowed to work from home, it’s a place to crack open the laptop and hammer away on the keyboard for eight straight hours. Amid the ongoing pandemic, however, more people are working from home for the foreseeable future. Now more than ever, it’s important to actually enjoy our work-from-home (WFH) spaces. Few companies nail the perfect WFH aesthetic like Grovemade.

Average folks without a design degree or decorating sense have two real options for dressing up their home offices. The first is to cobble together a look from disparate pieces -- a blotter from here, a mouse pad from there, and a pen cup from somewhere else. The result is usually haphazard at best. A second option is to buy a premade desk set. The worst of these from big box office supply stores look like something straight out of Clark Griswold’s office. Neither option is appealing.

Read more