Layoffs, cuts ... and more hiring

Among dotcoms, for all their woes, demand continues strong for technical employees. A year ago, there were about 1 million unfilled jobs. Now, computer experts estimate this is down to about 400,000 to 500,000 jobs looking for workers.

"The pace has slowed down, but it's still a good place to be employment-wise," says Don McLaurin, head of the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses in Alexandria, Va.

He says the industry's sales are growing about 10 percent this year - down significantly from the 30-percent rate of the past decade. Hourly wage rates are down perhaps 6 percent from last year.

Only a year ago, Wes Neithardt was working in Silicon Valley for a dotcom start-up. The company had financing trouble, so he moved to southern California, where he became an independent consultant.

Six months ago he returned to a company he used to work for: Countrywide Home Loans, one of the nation's largest mortgage providers. "It's harder to get a job now, but not incredibly difficult," says Mr. Neithardt, who lives in Agoura Hills, Calif.

In fact, Neithardt's new employer, Countrywide, is currently looking for salespeople, mortgage processors, and underwriters. It is launching a new bank, Treasury Bank, hiring for a facility in Plano, Texas, and has even added a toll-free number (888-470-JOBS).

"We need a lot of people. We're trying for as many as we can get," says Leora Goren, managing director of human resources at the Calabasas, Calif., company.

For some companies, hiring is driven by demographics. That's the case at Southern Co., one of the largest energy providers.

Forty percent of the company's employees are in their late 40s or older.

"We need to replace these folks in an orderly fashion," says Chris Wolmack, senior vice president for human resources at the Atlanta-based company.

To try to find workers, the company has formed "partnerships" with various colleges and universities where it recruits. Especially sought: people who want to become linemen. "They are very difficult to find, and it takes years to become one," Mr. Wolmack says.

In fact, for workers with certain skills, finding a job is not that difficult.

That's the case for Jeff Abler who joined CENiX, a company involved in optical communications, earlier this month. With a background in building automation equipment, the Tucson, Ariz., resident heard of the in Allentown, Pa., firm on his first day looking for work. He spent some time checking in with other companies, but "a lot had hiring freezes," he recalls. So, he ended up moving his wife and three children to Pennsylvania.

But it's not just the engineers who are being recruited. In Maine, the Hotel Pemaquid ended up bringing over two university students from Russia to make up rooms for the summer. Now, the students have returned to school, and for the next month, Ms. Atwood, the owner, will be making up beds and cleaning bathrooms. "If we could find people, we'd hire them," she says.

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