JOBWIRE for the week of April 14, 2002

14 Weeks to Your Next Job

The average job search is taking approximately 3.4 months, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That's roughly five weeks longer than last year. The search lasts almost four months for jobseekers over age 50, the firm reports. "Several factors are slowing hiring," explains CEO John Challenger. "Employers who cut jobs and hours as we entered the recession are likely to just add hours as we come out of recession. Employers simply will not hire until they can safely forecast a steady flow of orders."

Ad Agencies Plan Hiring Campaign

Things are looking up in the advertising and marketing field. A survey of ad execs shows that 27 percent of the ad agencies who put recruitment on hold during the recession will add staff in the second quarter. "The hiring outlook within the creative industry is one of cautious optimism," says Tracey Turner, executive director of The Creative Group of Menlo Park, which conducted the survey.

On the Job Front

CITRUS HEIGHTS - A new Dollar Tree has sprouted in the old Tower Books retail space. The discount retailer has 20 on staff at their new location.

MILPITAS - Mattress retailer The Sleep Train is opening the chain's 40th store next month.

PALO ALTO - Hewlett-Packard employees displaced by the pending merger with Compaq Computer could get up to a year's base pay plus other benefits, HP announced last week. Somewhere between 15,000 and 24,000 workers will lose their jobs.

ROSEVILLE - Last May's closure of both the Sacramento and Roseville Saturn dealerships has John L. Sullivan all revved up. The Sullivan Automotive Group is scheduled to open a Saturn dealership in the Roseville Automall in February and hopes to add a Natomas (Sacramento) dealership in the future . . . Software company TASQ Technology is making room for the additional 150 engineers it hopes to hire by the fall of 2003.

SACRAMENTO - The regional economy should continue to thrive, according to a new report by the California Institute for County Government, Valley Vision, and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Increased exports and growing investments by venture capitalists are expected to accelerate the area's ongoing shift from public to private employment.

SAN FRANCISCO - After 96 years, Levi Strauss & Company is closing its Valencia Street factory in June, idling 100 workers. The closure is one of six in the US which will affect a total of 3300 workers.

SAN JOSE - Hybrid Networks Inc, maker of wireless Internet systems, is pulling the plug on itself. The company is laying off 80 percent of its employees and said it does not have funds to operate past April 30th.

SUNNYVALE - Business software company Vitria Technology has eliminated 192 positions, most of which were in North America.

WALNUT CREEK - Coldwater Creek, known for its catalog sales of women's clothing, is opening a retail outlet at Broadway Plaza on May 22nd.

WOODLAND - Visitors to the city will soon have a new place to stay. Holiday Inn Express is building a 68-room hotel, set to open this time next year.