QUINCY, ILL. -- There's good news for job seekers in the Quincy area. A shift in demand for unlikely winter jobs has surged due to recent natural disasters across the country.
Hurricane Sandy dealt a blow to the east coast this year. Residents lost homes, businesses and all of the contents inside. The cleanup began in the dark as a light shined on the Midwest for help.
"With the disasters that we've had, that's spurring business as well because they've had to replace all of their infrastructures," Cheryl Liggit, with Adecco in Quincy said.
Liggit has seen the effects first hand. She says the demand for jobs has shifted during these winter months.
"Of course, construction will be impacted by that with the rebuilding side," Liggit said. "It's also going to be bottled water and furniture manufacturing and trucks and that sort of thing. So, that's going to spur all kinds of jobs in the Quincy area that will see that."
Adecco has received calls from area employers asking for new hires to help build up their inventory for larger east coast orders.
"They're preparing for it and looking ahead, forecasting for 2013," Liggit said.
Liggit says this isn't the first time a natural disaster on the coast has affected jobs in the Tri-State area.
"When Katrina hit, that actually spurred a lot of business in our area after the fact. To replace bottled water was a big one, food product, getting product there to replace and rebuild. They have to rebuild their office. They have to rebuild their home. They have to furnish them. So, it takes a while to do all that, to get that all cleaned up, number one and then to replace it," Liggit said.
Liggit says this surge in jobs should stick around until next spring.
Liggit says more clerical and tax preparation positions have also opened up. But the majority of job seekers she sees at Adecco are qualified for manufacturing jobs.
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