If you’re out of work and looking to get back in, we are about to see a lot of hiring over the next few weeks. We are stretching your dollar with a look at where it’s happening.

Connecticut is gearing up for phase two of reopening this week and as our routine begins to get back to normal – a deadline is fast approaching for businesses in the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP.

In order to keep from having to pay the loan money back, business needs to get their employee head count up again.

“It’s not like they have to hire the same people back, but they do have to bring up the headcount to where they were in mid-February,” Larry Rubin, Talent Partners.

Larry Rubin with Talent Partners says anyone looking for work should expect a lot of hiring in those hardest-hit sectors that were forced to furlough or layoff during the pandemic.

“The hospitality side, retail, oil and gas which we don’t have a lot of here in Connecticut. That whole sector got hurt, transportation, health and life sciences, other data science, financial services which we have a lot throughout this quarter.”

And these days, working from home at the digital age, there are job opportunities at your fingertips.

“It’s going to sites like Upwork and Fiverr, two sites that are the gig economy where anyone can put themselves on the market for 10-99 work assignments, you create your footprint there, get rated for how good your work is, and you can pick up work anywhere in the world on those sites.”

So as hiring begins, theres a range of opportunities, and until you find the right fit, now may be a good time to sharpen your skills to adapt to the changing job market. If you’re open to it, now is the right time for anyone to take a few online classes to expand your skillset. That would be money well spent. Online learning is big right now and that’s also a sector that’s hiring.