One of the more frequently asked questions...

One of the more frequently asked questions I get asked by candidates interested in working with Pinnacol is when will our hiring pick up. Having lost my crystal ball years ago I have struggled to answer this question, and usually end up with a fairly lame response of "it depends". This is of no comfort to either the person asking the question, or to me trying to answer it. This recession is proving to be very challenging on the jobs front, which is an understatement for anyone seeking a new position.

Recently the Denver Post ran an article that helped me better understand what's taking so long for hiring activity to pick up again. The article by Aldo Svaldi, in August 8th's Business section, indicates that instead of adding jobs in the period of January through June, Colorado was one of only four states to actually lose jobs ranking 46th on the list of job creation with a .1 percent decline in jobs. By contrast, Kentucky led the list showing 1.9% job growth since January.

The article points out that the majority of jobs being created in the U.S. as the country attempts to pull out of its economic slump are in manufacturing and unfortunately Colorado continues to see these types of jobs disappear. Now you might be thinking that Pinnacol is about as far from a manufacturing employer as one can get so what does any of this have to do with opportunities with our company? The short answer is that we insure the vast majority of employers and employees in Colorado and our growth - including hiring - directly depends on the growth and well-being of the companies we insure. The more they start to create jobs and hire people to fill them, the sooner we will do the same.