Despite COVID-19 quarantines, some Bay Area companies still hiring

Almost everywhere you look these days, the streets are quiet, the sidewalks empty and the store fronts closed. But even amid this gloom, doom layoffs and scaling back, some Bay Area companies are still hiring.

"Definitely companies still have open positions. Business are still running. They need to get them filled," said Michael Wang.

Wang  is co-founder of San Francisco-based 3-Bridge Networks, a job recruiting company.

In addition to hiring at essential retailers such as Safeway, Amazon and Walmart, Wang said he found a six-figure job for an accountant just recently. 

"Across the board, whether it is in finance, engineering, marketing, we are seeing certain companies continue hiring. Educational tech is doing really well now that every kid is at home and college is migrating their curriculum online. We are seeing people do first round, second round and final interviews remotely."

But Wang and others who study the job market are not trying to paint a rosy employment picture. Many newly out-of-work Californians may not be qualified to take the jobs that are open.

Michael Bernick is an employment attorney and formerly head of California's Employment Development Department.

The main employment dynamic here in California and the Bay Area is not hiring and furloughing. It started two weeks ago and accelerated this week," Bernick said.
The big question  is how long the shutdown will last. And for that no one has a clear answer right now.