Google, Microsoft hiring in thousands

Amid the gloom enveloping the jobs market worldwide, top 20 employers including Google and Microsoft, are looking to hire over 7,000 people, US magazine Fortune said.

"As many big companies are announcing mass layoffs, these 20 top employers have at least 350 openings each right now," business magazine Fortune said.

The magazine had come out with a list of 100 Best Companies To Work For, which recognised firms that have gone out of their ways to please their employees despite the economic slowdown.

Fortune in a related report, has named 20 firms that are recruiting even in the gloomy environment. The list includes Internet major Google, which has 350 vacancies for engineering, marketing, product management and legal sales and Edward Jones with 1,040 job openings for financial advisors and branch office administrators.

Interestingly, Microsoft, which had announced on January 22 that it would be cutting up to 5,000 jobs in the next year and a half, is also looking to hire thousands of employees.

"But it (Microsoft) is still looking for software design engineers, financial analysts, human resources, administrative and marketing and sales talent, particularly in online ad sales," the magazine stated.

Other companies offering jobs include Wegmans Food Markets (2,000 jobs), Cisco Systems (500), Genetech (585), Whole Foods Market (800) and Ernst and Young(2,800). Global consultancy firm Ernst & Young is planning to hire around 2,400 experienced professionals and nearly 5,000 students from campus for opportunities in the US and Canada for fiscal year 2009. E&Y has openings in assurance, tax and several of the advisory practices.

Further, the companies looking to hire include KPMG, Booz Allen Hamilton, T-Mobile (2,163), PricewaterhouseCoopers (500)and Accenture.

Besides, in the Fortune list of best employers, storage and data management services provider NetApp topped the charts this year, moving ahead of Google, which had been at the top position for the past two years and stands at the fourth position now.

On Monday, a staggering over 80,000 job cuts were announced in a single day across the world, with construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar, pharma major Pfizer, telecom firm Sprint Nextel Corp and home improvement retailer Home Depot together accounting for 61,000 lay-off announcements.