Many Bay State companies that provide services to other businesses are poised for growth

By JON CHESTO and STEVE ADAMS
The Patriot Ledger

With the state's employers only adding about 21,000 jobs in the past year, it's hard not to grow impatient with the local labor market's lackluster recovery

But there are still some major companies that expect to add hundreds of jobs in 2007 - if you know where to look

Andre Mayer, senior vice president for research at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said some of the fastest-growing industries will be those that provide services for other businesses

Many of the white-collar jobs in that sector - such as engineering, consulting and accounting positions - disappeared in the last recession that ended by early 2004 But the business services sector is now enjoying a rebound: It has been the fastest growing sector in the past year, adding nearly 9,000 jobs in the past 12 months That pace of growth is expected to continue into 2007

Joseph Donahue, president of Microtech Staffing Group in Quincy, said he sees increasing demand for information technology and health care jobs in particular Many employers are frustrated because the state's high costs of living are causing many skilled workers to flee the state to put down roots and raise families in less expensive places, Donahue said

An informal survey of some of the largest for-profit employers in the suburbs south and west of Boston show that some remain optimistic they'll find the right people to successfully complete their expansions here in Massachusetts Here's a look, by industry, at some of those companies that are in the midst of expansions:

 

Telecommunications

One of the fastest growing firms in southeastern Massachusetts is Quincy's Granite Telecommunications, which specializes in bundling and reselling local phone services to corporate clients with locations in multiple states The company recently moved offices in an effort to accommodate the expansion

Granite added about 160 people last year, and expects to add another roughly 150 people this year, according to Rand Currier, the company's chief operating officer The growth would bring the company's total staff up to nearly 600 Granite will look to fill a variety of jobs, such as customer service and finance jobs, Currier said

Engineering

The Shaw Group will be adding up to 400 jobs in the next few years at Stoughton Technology Park as it expands its nuclear power plant design and maintenance division

A spokesman for the Baton Rouge, La-based engineering company could not say how many jobs would be added in 2007 But the Chinese government last month selected the Shaw Group and Westinghouse Electric Co to design and build four nuclear reactors in a $53 billion project, spokesman Chris Sammons said

"That is exactly what we were hoping for and expecting, and part of our big focus on nuclear right now and why we opened the (Stoughton) office,'' Sammons said

Medical devices

Another company that's on a hiring spree is Tyco Healthcare in Mansfield The company is preparing to be spun off from Tyco International in the spring, and will need dozens of additional corporate support staff to make that happen

Carol Pender, corporate human resources manager at Tyco Healthcare, said she expects to fill some 200 positions between now and when the company becomes independent in the spring, and has hired about 80 people of that amount so far She said she expects the company will employ nearly 1,200 people at its Mansfield complex by the summer

"We're just bursting at the seams here,'' Pender said

Financial services

Mercer Human Resource Consulting added about 200 jobs to its Norwood campus last year, and expects to expand "fairly aggressively'' there in 2007, said company spokesman Charles Salmans The Norwood office specializes in providing outsourcing services for human resources functions such as health plan and retirement plan administration

"I'm told we're going to be hiring across all levels, from senior to more entry-level kinds of positions,'' Salmans said

Shareholder services provider Computershare, which has about 1,700 employees at its Canton offices, will recruit full- and part-time employees this year for flexible work schedules "We anticipate 2007 will be just as active if not more active than 2006,'' spokesman Jeff Stein said

Biotechnology

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Serono will seek to attract cancer researchers and sales and marketing help in 2007, even though it was just acquired by German drug company Merck KGaA, spokeswoman Renee Connolly said The Swiss biotech giant employs approximately 450 people at its US headquarters in Rockland

Caliper Life Sciences Inc, a Hopkinton company that makes research tools for pharmaceutical and biotech firms, will hire workers to support its August acquisition of Xenogen Corp, according to CEO Kevin Hrusovsky Caliper recently integrated Xenogen, which makes cameras and software designed to take pictures of cancer inside lab animals, into expanded manufacturing space in Hopkinton

"We're also looking at some other acquisitions, so my sense is it's going to be positive in terms of employment growth for 2007,'' Hrusovsky said

Genzyme Corp, a Cambridge- based biotech company, employs about 3,700 people in Massachusetts, and is building a new research facility in Framingham, where it already employs about 1,500 people Genzyme also recently reached a deal to buy AnorMed, a Canadian developer of an anti-cancer drug

"While we don't have a specific projection (for 2007), in the past we've grown 15 to 20 percent per year, and 2007 should be on par with that,'' Genzyme spokeswoman Erin Emlock said

Retail

Staples Inc, the Framingham-based office supply retailer, employed about 5,100 people in Massachusetts at the end of 2006, according to Owen Davis, a company spokesman This year, the company expects to add about 175 jobs in the state, partly to accommodate the chain's continued store growth and its expanded delivery business

Staples is also testing its Copy & Print shops in the Boston area in 2007, which could reflect some of the company's local hiring as well, he said The shops are scaled-down retail copy centers with select Staples products for sale

TJX Companies spokeswoman Sherry Lang said her company would be "growing'' but declined to provide specific projections The Framingham-based retail giant operates the TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Bob's Stores and AJ Wright chains

Clothing retailer Talbots will be hiring this year to replace positions through attrition, including finance and human resources jobs in its Hingham headquarters and its J Jill division in Quincy, spokeswoman Julie Lorigan said Although specific job numbers are not available until budgets are approved, the company expects a "status quo'' approach to employment levels in 2007, she said