GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Demand to hire employees is “high” right now in Guilford County, according to NC Works, and the need for workers will likely rise even more with new businesses opening ahead of the holiday season across the Triad.
There are currently 14,092 job openings in Guilford County, NC Works Data shows. The employers with the most job openings are Cone Health with 659 positions, Guilford County Schools with 519, Guilford Technical Community College with 212, Food Lion with 141, and AB Volvo with 129.
The demand for workers will likely increase during the holiday season with seasonal jobs, as is historically the case.
From August to September, the number of job openings statewide increased by 1.5%, with retail jobs accounting for the largest rise, according to NC Today, a monthly review produced by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
In Greensboro, several new businesses are opening their doors – and they are hiring.
Informal Facebook groups sharing job openings in the Triad are filled with posts from hopeful applicants, job hiring agencies, and businesses advertising open positions.
Nine new stores in Greensboro's Friendly Center
Nine new tenants are opening this holiday season at the Friendly Center in Greensboro, including Charming Charlie’s, Dewey’s Holiday Store, Guilford County Animal Services PUP-Up Adoption Shop, Hickory Farms, On Deck, Paparazzi Accessories, Pottery Barn, Santa’s Workshop, and See’s Candies. Combined, this will bring about 50 new job openings, according to Sandi Malcom, Friendly Center General Manager.
The Pink Poppy Shoppe is a clothing boutique located in the Friendly Center, and one of the owners Lauren Lamb said she has noticed an increase in foot traffic this fall compared to the summer.
"Definitely a big change I've seen summer going into fall, just with a lot more people getting vaccinated, going to school, and their jobs requiring the vaccine. So I think that's sort of been a boost," Lamb said.
Lamb said the boutique has faced difficulty acquiring products made with denim, which she attributes to COVID-19 outbreaks around the world and shipping delays.
"In July, we ordered all of our denim for fall, and we just got it two weeks ago.... and now it's all gone," Lamb said. "People are really excited when they see cute jeans, trendy jeans, so they are already gone."
The small business is looking forward to "Pink Friday" on November 19th, where clothing boutiques encourage people to shop locally before Black Friday.
Also in the Friendly Center is Paparazzi Jewelry, the $5 Jeweler, owned by D'Etta Winstead. The grand opening for her brick-and-mortar store was on Saturday, although she had been in business for nearly three years through online sales.
"I had a lot of foot traffic, people just stopping in. It was awesome," Winstead said. "I'm doing a three-month lease for the holidays, but they said, 'If it's going well D'Etta, you are welcome to come back,' so that's my prayer, that everything goes well and I can continue with it."
Winstead said she has also seen shipping delays for her jewelry merchandise.
Downtown Greensboro booming
Downtown Greensboro is also seeing new businesses, including Radici, a vegan Italian restaurant, and Seafood Destiny.
"With the holidays coming up, and I can't stress the Tanger Center enough – when you've got 3,000 additional folks coming down essentially every night to see Wicked, or that will come to see Beautiful or come to see other shows they have, they are driving a lot more foot traffic," Zack Matheny, President of Downtown CEO Incorporated said.
Matheny said Downtown Greensboro is preparing for upcoming holiday events including the Festival of Lights and the Holiday Parade.
"Even though we've had the pandemic, we are coming out in a slingshot approach," he said.
Matheny said he is hearing from local restaurants that their need remains high for new employees.
"Certainly in our restaurant space, they are definitely still in need of hiring more folks. Honestly, they want to be open more hours, they want to be open longer hours," he said. "I am hearing that restaurants are paying more. They have dug deeper into their wallets to try and pay a higher wage to get folks to come back to the workforce."
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