In the midst of an economic crisis, it’s not all doom, gloom and unemployment.

Going against the grain, Asda has announced it is to create 7,000 new jobs this year, and in doing so will become the latest supermarket to add new positions, as their sales continue to rise despite the recession.

Asda has said it will create 3,700 of the new jobs by opening 14 new stores and extending 15 of its current ones.

On top of this, 2,000 jobs are planned to be created at its home shopping unit, and around another 1,000 through organic growth.

Asda has said that it specifically aims to target those that have been unemployed long-term when it fills its 3,000 new vacancies, which will provide both full and part-time work.

Asda’s Chief Executive Andy Bond said: “our track record of recruiting and retaining people is second to none.”

Asda also said they are going to work with agency Remploy in order to try and secure jobs for a significant number of disabled people that are currently unemployed.

They are also looking to fill about 120 new jobs in their in-store pharmacies and opticians.

Not only is Asda creating new jobs, but also broadcasters BSkyB have announced their plans to create 1,000 new jobs in order to cope with continuing strong demand for its services.

Other supermarkets that are creating jobs include:
• Sainsburys - which is creating 5,000 new jobs this year

• Waitrose is planning on creating 4,000 new posts

• Morrisons is planning on adding 5,000 new jobs

• And Tesco aims to add up to 10,000 new positions.

However, on the other hand, companies that have recently announced more job cuts include:
• GKN – the car parts firm announced it was to cut more jobs this year after 242 people lost their positions in October due to lack of new vehicle sales

• Shop Direct – the home shopping retailer is planning to cut around 900 jobs in their call centres due to an increase in online buying
• Thames Water has recently announced it is planning on trimming its workforce by about 300 people

• Aston Martin – the luxury car production company is cutting all staff to working three days per week.
GKN have said that they have already shed 2,800 jobs globally since October, but that more were to follow due to the slump in the global car industry.
This was announced before Peter Mandelson, Business Secretary, met with UK car industry bosses in order to discuss the details of the £2.3billion support package the government is offering.
The deal was announced on Tuesday, and includes a scheme to unlock £1.3billion of loans from Europe for car manufacturers and major suppliers.
The government are also offering a guarantee of up to £1billion of further loans.
Lord Mendelson said: “we had a productive discussion on how the industry and supply chain can access these guarantees as well as the previous measures we have outlined.”