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Home Depot representatives announced they plan to bring in 80,000 new employees this year — 10,000 more hires than last year — by spring, which is the home-improvement chain's busiest season of the year. The openings are a reflection of improvements in the housing market and the attraction for more people to make renovations on their homes.
Steve Zinaman, merchandising manager at the Home Depot in Hawthorne, said the 14 percent boost in seasonal hires is "very significant." He said Home Depot of Hawthorne has already begun interviews for the 60 positions it plans to fill by spring.
The influx of both contractors and "Do-It-Yourself-ers" has been very noticeable this year, Zinaman said.
"Customers are coming in, wanting to fix up their homes and lawns. We've seen an increasing interest across the board," he said about home improvement projects.
The store already has 230 employees, of which roughly one-third are residents in the Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant area, he added.
As the weather gets warmer, Zinaman hopes to see the usual burst of customers interested in landscaping or renovating their homes.
Debra Tricarico, a Houlihan Lawrence, Inc. associate broker in Greenburgh, said she's been seeing many instances of people making improvements on their current homes because selling their homes and moving has become too difficult and expensive.
"They can't afford the taxes on bigger homes, or they're just not finding anything better," Tricarico said about clients who choose to renovate their homes rather than move.
Tricarico said she has also seen an increase in families moving back in together who need more space — one of her clients wants to move in with her son, and it's cheaper for them to borrow money for renovations rather than to look for a new place, she said.
Building permits have been on a steady incline in Greenburgh, with the last two years being the Greenburgh Building Department's busiest, Deputy Building Inspector Anthony Zacarolli said in September.
Job seekers interested in applying to Home Depot can visit its career website for more information.
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