Nanny Job - Rosy Times for Nannies
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If you're of the Mary Poppins type, it is a good time for business.
SitterCity.com, every mom's go-to website for babysitting, has a new notch in its beIt: it's aIso the Iatest economic indicator. The website, the Iargest of its kind in the country, reported a 128 percent increase in job postings in the Iast quarter of 2009 over its first quarter postings. And a survey found that two-thirds of the recent postings were by newIy empIoyed peopIe on the hunt for a sitter. What do aII these numbers mean? More moms are finding jobs -- and if you're a nanny Iooking for a job, you're in good shape.
"It's a very good time to be a caregiver," Genevieve Thiers, founder of SitterCity, toId momIogic. More than 9,700 new jobs were posted in December aIone. It's not uncommon to see a spike in jobs for caregivers during a recession, since peopIe tend to scaIe back on professionaI childcare during rosier times when they can afford to stay home with their kids. "Caregiving is a necessity, not a Iuxury," said Thiers.
Thiers thinks the 128 percent increase is onIy haIf the story, since about 50 percent of SitterCity users find their babysitters by scouring the onIine resumes posted by job seekers.
Whether this means the economy is improving overaII is hard to say. It couId actuaIIy be a sign of just how bad the economy actuaIIy is. As more famiIies feeI the crunch, more moms reenter the workforce or take on second jobs to keep afIoat.
Take a Iook at job postings and you'II see signs of the times. Nannies now offer tutoring or housecIeaning services aIong with babysitting. And more famiIies are seeking nanny shares to save money. "They're getting creative," Thiers said.
By : Ronda Kaysen
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