Thousands of jobs throughout the San Diego region have been lost in recent weeks because of coronavirus, but there are still companies that are in desperate need of workers.

A lot of the work is in retail at places like Albertsons, Target, Home Depot, Trader Joe’s, Walgreens, Lowe’s, Walmart, CVS and Chevron. There is also a lot of health care-related jobs at Scripps Health and St. Paul’s Senior Services Foundation.

This coverage of the coronavirus pandemic is part of your subscription to The San Diego Union-Tribune. We also provide free coverage as a service to our community.

No matter what, the number of jobs added at grocery stores and other businesses that need people will not make up for the positions lost. Most job openings reflect a new normal of businesses separated into essential and nonessential work.


Phil Blair, CEO of San Diego staffing agency Manpower, said that it is still placing people in jobs at medical and technology companies. Even before the pandemic, those companies were struggling to find skilled workers. But, on the positive side, he said many of those businesses now have job openings in lower-skilled positions that could be a foot in the door for someone looking for work.

“This is an opportunity to get into a company you may not have been able to get into before,” he said.

Of course, interviewing during this time is much different. To avoid spreading the virus, Blair said most interviews are over Zoom, Skype or FaceTime.

Major retailers that have seen a flood of business since stay-at-home orders were issued are looking for workers. Walmart has posted openings in the past three days for cashiers, stocking associates and other jobs at locations in San Diego, Escondido, Vista, Poway, Chula Vista Carlsbad, Oceanside and El Cajon.


Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, announced in late March that it planned to hire more than 150,000 temporary workers by the end of May. It also said it was giving $300 bonuses to full-time hourly workers and $150 for part-time workers.

“We know millions of Americans who are usually employed at this time are temporarily out of work, and at the same time we’re currently seeing strong demand in our stores,” wrote Walmart CEO Doug McMillon in a press release. “We’re looking for people who see Walmart as a chance to earn some extra money and perform a vital service to their community.”

Here are some of the places hiring in San Diego that have been posted with Workforce Partnership. Most companies did not include hourly rates in the postings.



Home Depot: The company has a number of jobs at its locations in Fairmont, Sports Arena area, downtown and others. Jobs include asset protection specialists, cashiers, customer service positions and drivers. Most positions do not have an education requirement.

St. Paul’s Senior Services Foundation: The foundation is hiring an activities coordinator, licensed vocational nurses, cooks, caregivers, dishwashers, bus drivers and more. Positions are in San Diego and El Cajon locations. Requirements range from high school diploma or GED to bachelor’s degrees.

Target: The retail operation is hiring at its Vista, Chula Vista and San Diego locations. Positions include specialty sales (beauty, tech, style and Starbucks), guest advocates, security and cashiers. Education required for positions included high school diplomas or a GED.

Chevron: The gas station needs cashiers and assistant managers all over the county at multiple locations in Chula Vista, San Diego and Carlsbad. There is no education requirement.

Albertsons: All grocery stores seem to need workers during the pandemic but Albertsons seems to have the most openings at the moment. It is seeking clerks, delivery drivers, night time clerks and liquor department positions. Most jobs do not have an education requirement. Positions are in San Diego and Lemon Grove locations.

There are still highly skilled jobs available, too. Engineers, analysts, technicians and other specialized workers are needed at Avivv, Intuit, Qualcomm, and Pacific Architects and Engineers.

Workforce Partnership released a report two weeks ago that estimated 350,000 jobs could be lost because of closures related to coronavirus. Most at risk were jobs that could not be done from home and fell under nonessential designations, such as waiters, during stay-at-home orders.


Daniel Enemark, lead economist for Workforce Partnership, said that while there are new jobs being added at companies that are essential during the pandemic — such as Amazon and grocery stores — it likely will not make up for all the jobs lost.

The state Employment Development Department said it received 878,727 unemployment claims in the week ending March 28, a 370 percent increase from the previous week. We won’t know until next week when the monthly unemployment report comes out exactly how many San Diego County jobs were lost.

Unemployment benefits for Californians are often less than what they were earning at regular jobs. However, under the new federal CARES Act, they could get an additional $600 a week (through the end of July) and there are extensions in place for unemployed workers that exhaust benefits.

How to apply

The San Diego Workforce Partnership has a website, workforce.org/portal, where workers can search for employment and upload their resumes for potential employers to view. It is an eight-step process to fill in all the paperwork and can take about 10 minutes.


It asks what type of jobs you are interested in, your household size, work experience and more. After the profile is set up, users can browse open positions and apply for jobs directly through the website.

There are also other job posting websites where you will need to create extensive profiles, but that can be used to easily apply at jobs as they appear with a few clicks. Some of them include Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, Google Jobs, SimplyHired and CareerBuilder.

There are also several staffing agencies in San Diego County that employ recruiters who place workers at different companies. Some of them include Manpower, Robert Half International and Kelly Services.

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Direct links to company websites that have job openings in San Diego County


Amazon: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/locations/sandiego

Albertsons: https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/careers.html

Target: https://corporate.target.com/careers/

Home Depot: https://careers.homedepot.com/

Trader Joe’s: https://www.traderjoes.com/careers

Walgreens: https://jobs.walgreens.com/

Lowe’s: https://jobs.lowes.com/

Walmart: https://careers.walmart.com/

CVS: https://jobs.cvshealth.com/

Chevron: https://careers.chevron.com/

Rite Aid: https://careers.info.riteaid.com/

Sprouts: https://about.sprouts.com/careers/

Scripps Health: https://careers.scripps.org/

St. Paul’s Senior Services Foundation: https://www.stpaulseniors.org/our-careers/

