Locally, part-time jobs easier to come by

The majority of jobs being filled in the Inland Northwest are part-time positions. Employers are shying away from committing benefits and full-time salaries when the economic forecast remains clouded, said Jessica DeHaan, owner of the Post Falls staffing company Express Personnel Services.

Her advice for workers searching for jobs that will last for more than a few weeks: Contact companies in the light industrial and office services categories.

Light industry jobs involve product shipping and handling. Office services jobs are those such as reception, customer service, accounting and sales.

Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering, for example, has about 20 non-engineering job openings.

For people looking for short-term work, the choices are hospitality, janitorial and retail sales.

Two Spokane companies regularly hiring are Staff Pro, which provides security for the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena and Convention Center, and ISS Facility Services, which hires crews to clean public facilities.

Both always take applications for jobs paying no lower than $8.55 an hour, and some as much as $11 an hour to start.

Don’t forget the federal government. The U.S. Census Bureau is looking to hire field workers to help gather information for next year’s big census. Spokane Census Bureau manager Brian Kennedy said there’s no immediate need for more Spokane County workers, but the bureau will hire for the census in other Eastern Washington and Idaho counties.

For more information on Census Bureau jobs, call (866) 861-2010.