Thousands Of Jobs Return To Anne Arundel County

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Anne Arundel County has more than 15,000 job openings. Restaurants, hotels and retailers are all adding staff as customers start to return. One leader thinks this success stems from expanded eligibility for the coronavirus vaccine.

Patch partners with several local organizations to bring you their latest news. This guest contribution comes from the Downtown Annapolis Partnership and the Annapolis Arts District. Here's what Executive Director Erik Evans wrote about economic recovery:

"With the expanded capacities of businesses, the vaccine roll-out, and the warmer weather[,] local businesses are now hiring. Unemployment is traditionally low in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County[, but] this past year unemployment spiked during COVID as many businesses reduced staffing levels as restrictions were put in place. Now unemployment numbers are decreasing as business picks up.

Currently[,] about 30% of Anne Arundel County residents have received at least one shot of the COVID vaccine and about 20% are fully vaccinated. Combine that with warmer weather and people are starting to come out more to shop, dine, and enjoy the outdoors.

For the past couple of weekends, foot traffic has increased in downtown Annapolis. The sidewalk cafés, ice cream shops, and boutique stores are all seeing increased traffic and sales. This is expected to be a good year for small towns like Annapolis for day-trippers and weekenders to visit. The public is looking for places nearby to visit where they can spend time exploring outdoors.

The increase in business has also brought out the now hiring signs throughout downtown Annapolis. Almost every downtown Annapolis restaurant is hiring[, and] many of the shops and hotels are also hiring. Jobs will also continue to expand as events start returning and attracting more visitors later this spring. Some of the upcoming events scheduled for this spring in downtown Annapolis include May Day, First Sunday Arts, Dinner Under the Stars, Blue Angels Airshow, and Juneteenth.

As businesses have started hiring again[,] unemployment numbers are falling[,] and there is a wide range of job opportunities in the area. Some of those advertising they are hiring in the downtown Annapolis area include Bourtadakis Barber Shop, the City of Annapolis, Dangerously Delicious Pies, Federal House Bar & Grille, Middleton Tavern, Pusser’s Caribbean Grille, Shades of the Bay, Rams Head Tavern, Stan and Joe’s Saloon, the State of Maryland, and the Westin Annapolis.

Live music is also starting to return to restaurants downtown and local entertainment venues are starting to reopen. This will create job openings for musicians and support staff. Hotels are beginning to hire staff as they are seeing an increase in room bookings, weddings, and family reunions this summer. The demand for weddings and family reunions is dramatically increasing this year as many of these events from last year were postponed to this year.

The Maryland Workforce Exchange website is currently listing over 15,000 jobs available in Anne Arundel County of which about 6,800 jobs are within 5 miles of Annapolis. The occupations with the highest job openings in the region are nursing, computer operations/programming, customer service, retail sales, managers and freight stock, and material movers. Businesses can also use the Maryland Workforce Exchange to find candidates for their job openings.

These are all positive signs that life is starting to return to normal[,] not only in downtown Annapolis and the Annapolis Arts District[,] but throughout the county and the state.

Erik Evans
Executive Director
Annapolis Arts District
Downtown Annapolis Partnership"

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Have a story idea? Please contact me at jacob.baumgart@patch.com with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County news.