Cerner, the feds, donut shops and more: Here's who's hiring right now in Kansas City

Apr. 24--The numbers on employment just keep getting worse.

Last week, another 91,120 workers in Kansas and Missouri filed new unemployment claims. Collectively, nearly 600,000 people in the two states have filed new claims in recent weeks as the coronavirus shut down much of the economy.

Still, some places continue to hire.

The jobs database maintained by Missouri's labor department shows more than 600 open positions in the Kansas City metropolitan area. That includes openings for security guards, shoe store clerks, nurses, warehouse workers, groundskeepers and factory maintenance technicians.

The Kansas Department of Commerce has some 3,000 positions posted on its website. That might seem like a big number, but it's dwarfed by the ongoing unemployment crisis. Just last week, nearly 32,000 Kansans filed new unemployment claims.

"This is the first time in recent history that we're kind of on the opposite side of the teeter totter with more people unemployed than jobs available," said Mike Beene, the department's director of workforce development.

The available positions in Kansas include many essential jobs, particularly in hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare settings. While some businesses like grocery stores and Amazon have been hiring in recent weeks to support increasing demand, Beene said most of the jobs advertised in Kansas are not temporary positions.

"What I'm seeing in the postings right now are companies offering long-term employment, not necessarily a temporary job to get through the crisis," he said. "It appears that most of the businesses that are posting essential jobs, those jobs also include benefits."

Take LaMar's Donuts, for example.

Even as sales have slid during the economic shutdown, the chain still had 26 openings for bakers, baristas and managers at stores across the Kansas City metro.

Temi Osifodunrin, director of marketing and advertising for the longtime Kansas City company now based in Colorado, said the stores were short-staffed before the pandemic. And the disruption and fear from the coronavirus has only exacerbated those problems.

"I think people are still nervous to get back into the workforce, to get back out there," he said. "So it hasn't been an overwhelming interest. We haven't received a lot of applications lately, but I think it will pick up soon."

Here's a look at some other job opportunities in the Kansas City area and where job seekers can look for openings:

USDA paying big bucks for scientists, researchers

The United States Department of Agriculture's decision to relocate two agencies from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City was controversial, as many researchers decried the Trump administration's move as a politically motivated attack on science.

Fewer than half of the researchers and scientists followed the agencies to Kansas City.

So the USDA has had to look for local talent to help fill openings in its National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Economic Research Service.

The agency plans a virtual career expo on Tuesday to help fill openings for economists, geographers, accountants and grant, financial and communications specialists, among others.

The positions, which are posted online at USAjobs.gov, start at about $52,000 per year and pay up to $170,000. Interested individuals can sign up for the virtual career fair at workforusdakc.com.

In a news release, NIFA Director Scott Angle said Kansas City had been a "fruitful recruiting ground" for the agency.

"NIFA has the feel of a startup company right now," he said. "We don't just need people with agricultural science backgrounds. We need people with budget, finance and accounting experience. We need people with grants management skills. We need communicators. We're hiring from the entry level to the Senior Executive Service level."

Spectrum is hiring and boosting wages

Internet, phone and television provider Spectrum is adding new positions at its mobile call center in Kansas City.

Call center workers will help customers with billing and account management along with technical support and data transfers. The company plans to hire 185 people and applicants can apply at jobs.spectrum.com.

In addition to comprehensive health benefits, retirement savings match and service discounts, Spectrum is raising its minimum wage for all workers.

The bottom pay for all hourly workers will increase from $16.50 to $20 per hour by 2022. Company officials say those pay hikes are on top of annual merit increases.

On Monday, parent company Charter Communications announced it would not lay off or furlough any workers for at least the next 60 days.

"We are making this commitment to reassure our employees during this unprecedented time that we are facing together as a company and a nation," Charter said in a news release.

The company has added three weeks of COVID-19 related flex time in addition to paid administrative leave for workers exposed to the coronavirus.

Cerner continues its hiring spree

Cerner Corp., Kansas City's largest private employer, continues a years-long hiring spree. On its careers website, the North Kansas City-based healthcare IT company lists more than 300 open positions across the region.

Despite layoffs late last year, the company still employs some 14,000 workers at campuses across the metro area. Work is ongoing on the company's massive Innovations Campus, which is east of Interstate 435 and stretches from 87th to 95th streets.

Cerner spokeswoman Anamarie Rebori Simmons said many new hires have come on board since the company moved most of its workforce to remote work. Those people were hired without any in-person interactions, though the company has continued to offer its two-day orientation process online.

"Cerner continues to actively recruit talent in Kansas City and across the globe for a broad range of skill sets," she said. "Of course, we continually evaluate open positions with business needs and align accordingly."

Cerner staff will work remotely until at least May 15 as officials monitor the pandemic. The company has offered online fitness classes and mental health resources to employees, along with a new pandemic time off policy for employees who cannot work because of a quarantine or office closure.

Like always, healthcare is big

Healthcare is responsible for the largest share of the Kansas City metro area's employment base, according to the state labor department. So it's no surprise that hospitals are looking for workers in the midst of a global pandemic.

St. Luke's Health System's career website shows more than 200 openings within 50 miles of downtown Kansas City. The system is looking to fill openings in housekeeping, nursing, patient transport and food service.

AdventHealth advertises nearly 50 openings at its Shawnee Mission hospital, including jobs in nursing, respiratory therapy and IT. HCA Midwest Health, which operates five hospitals across the metro, has nearly 30 openings listed, mostly in nursing and respiratory therapy.

The University of Kansas Health System is hiring at a slower pace than normal, but still has dozens of openings it's trying to fill. The pandemic has only increased demand for respiratory therapists and ICU nurses. The hospital has sped up its vetting and hiring process to get those workers on board quickly, said Katrice Lanier, the system's director of talent acquisition.

With the rise of telemedicine and remote work, the healthcare system has also had to increase numbers of patient service representatives and help desk workers.

But the healthcare system is also taking this time to recruit workers for positions that are always tough to fill, Lanier said. For instance, recruiters are taking extra care to find people to work in sterile processing, an area that supports operating rooms by sanitizing and preparing instruments.

"So we feel like this is a great opportunity for us to fill that need," she said.

On Wednesday, KU Hospitals advertised on social media that it was looking to fill a variety of positions in food service, custodial, patient transport, valet parking, laundry and customer service.

Those needs are not necessarily higher than normal. But with some 12,000 employees, Lanier said the system is always hiring.

"I think we're always going to have our help-wanted sign out. We're always going to be open," she said. "But we're just going to be very strategic and focused about it right now."

500 new insurance positions

Insurance company SelectQuote plans to hire 1,000 people across the country in the coming months, including some 500 positions in the Kansas City area.

Those plans were underway well before the pandemic, but with many employers shedding staff, the company hopes to help displaced workers.

"We've got plenty of jobs and plenty of opportunities for those that are displaced from service industries," Anythony Fasl, a SelectQuote executive in Kansas City, recently told The Star. "Many of our roles are customer service related. So we do have the ability to help out folks who are looking for employment."

Fasl expects about half of the company's 1,000 new positions to be filled at the company's Overland Park location. The company provides life, auto and home insurance products, though much of its recent growth has come through its division that offers Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplement products.

SelectQuote's new hiring round will commence in May. The company is particularly looking to fill insurance sales positions -- which pay an average of $80,000 per year.

Interested applicants can apply online at selectquote.com/careers.

Where else to look for jobs

Kansas and Missouri both maintain online job boards. In Kansas, job seekers can search the commerce department's site at Kansasworks.com. Missouri's labor department lists job openings at jobs.mo.gov.

Additionally, the KC Career Network has curated a number of job opportunities on its website. The site is a project of TeamKC, a talent attraction initiative at the Kansas City Area Development Council.

The group says it currently has some 5,000 openings in the Kansas City area. That includes temporary and permanent positions. Those hiring include Amazon, CVS Health, UMB Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Organizers say jobs range from less than $10 per hour to annual salaries that top $150,000.

The site includes links to other local job boards, along with resources for searching, applying and interviewing for jobs.

"Our team is actively identifying and tracking new positions that range from permanent corporate roles, to temporary work in areas deemed essential," Jessica Palm, a vice president who leads the TeamKC project, said in a news release.

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