Despite a swathe of redundancies from the economic downturn created by the pandemic, it is certainly not a case of it being all doom and gloom on the jobs fronts.
And here are 13 firms looking to expand and collectively create thousands of new jobs.
The industries vary from transport to tech, finance to supermarkets, but critically are providing new job opportunities.
1. KeolisAmey
Transport firm Keolis is creating 200 train driver jobs in Wales.
The roles are being created to help deliver increased services and capacity across the Wales and Borders rail franchise, which Keolis operates — under its joint venture with Amey (KeolisAmey) — having been awarded a 15-year contract by Transport for Wales in 2018.
Keolis currently employs 800 train drivers across the network, with the latest recruitment drive representing a 25% increase as it looks to further ramp up services.
2. Iceland, UK-wide
The Flintshire-based supermarket chain is creating 3,000 new jobs to cope with the huge extra demand for online groceries since the lockdown in March.
Bosses at the retailer revealed online orders surged by more than 300% since April as shoppers rushed to book delivery slots and all non-essential retailers shut their doors.
The new jobs include extra delivery drivers and more staff in stores for picking online orders, Iceland added.
3. Moneypenny, Wrexham
Moneypenny is expanding its team with plans to create nearly 50 new jobs.
The outsourced communications firm is adding to its team of 750 at the Wrexham based headquarters.
Due to the pandemic the new full and part time 'PA's' will be recruited in a different way, with the offices still only open to a small number of employees as most staff are working from home.
4. Lighthouse Lab, Newport
The UK Government’s Lighthouse Lab at Imperial Park will see the creation of 200 jobs in a partnership with global diagnostics company PerkinElmer.
The new centre is recruiting for people with experience of performing biological assays in a scientific research or diagnostic laboratory, in either a work or study environment. Alongside those senior roles, there will also be opportunities for graduates and those who are pursuing careers in the life sciences.
5. DVLA, Swansea
The DVLA started recruiting 400 new roles in the summer to support its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fixed-term roles, including 300 administrative assistants (AA) and 100 assistant officers (AO) are being drafted into the Government agency.
The agency is still recruiting for a number of roles.
6. Amazon, Swansea Bay
Hundreds of new jobs are being created in Swansea Bay as one of the biggest employers in the area gets set to hire new staff before the end of the year.
More than 600 new positions are being made available at the Amazon base in Fabian Way.
It comes as part of the company’s plans to create 10,000 new permanent roles across the UK in total by the end of 2020, a move that will take the company’s permanent workforce in the country to more than 40,000 people.
There are also sorting roles available in Bridgend and Newport.
7. Transcend Packaging, Ystrad Mynach
The paper straw manufacturer is doubling its workforce after diversifying to also produce protective face shields to help the fight against Covid.
Transcend Packaging specialises in providing sustainable packaging products to restaurants clients, such as McDonalds and Starbucks.
Since April, after converting some of its production lines in Ystrad Mynach with assistance from Life Sciences Hub Wales, it has supplied more than 15 million protective face shields to the NHS and UK Department of Health and Social Care.
The switch helped safeguard 70 jobs as orders for the hospitality sector dropped during lockdown. They are now looking to recruit 80 new members of staff.
8. Aforza, Cardiff
Tech start-up company Aforza is creating 100 jobs in Cardiff.
The cloud software provider for the consumer goods industry, opened a research and development lab in the city last year.
Longer term it plans to expand to as many as 300 employees globally, with Cardiff tipped as the location to drive R&D growth.
9. Cazoo, Cardiff
The fast-expanding online car retailer, Cazoo, has invested £1m in its first customer centre in Wales.
The start up venture, which is already selling thousands of cars a month, said its fourth customer centre, located in Cardiff, is creating 15 jobs.
It adds to its existing portfolio of centres in Manchester, London and Bristol. By year end it plans to have 16 sites across the UK employing 200. Its next location is planned for Birmingham.
10. Domino’s Pizza, UK-wide
The pizza delivery firm Domino’s has created 5,000 jobs as households continue to turn to its deliveries in droves during the pandemic.
The firm will also create 1,000 apprenticeship positions under the Government’s new Kickstart scheme as they look for “ambitious individuals” who will be given the opportunity to apply for permanent roles after a six-month placement.
The positions will include pizza chefs, customer service workers and delivery drivers and they are in addition to the 6,000 jobs Domino’s said it has created since the start of the pandemic.
11. Yodel, nationwide
Parcel carrier Yodel is to recruit almost 3,000 workers as it gears up for the busiest festive period in recent history.
The new roles include 2,500 self-employed and 450 employed positions, including couriers and parcel sorters at all of the firm's 50 locations across the UK.
The recruitment drive is in response to the demand for online retail, which has increased dramatically during 2020 as a result of the virus crisis.
12. Starling Bank, Cardiff
The digital bank Starling has already recruited more than 100 staff at its new hub in Cardiff since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bank, which officially launched its new data science, fraud and customer service hub in the city in March, said its new operation in the city was on track to eventually employ 400 staff.
The hub is supporting the growth of its business and personal banking platforms. It currently has 1.3 million accounts.
13. Aldi, nationwide
Aldi has said it plans to open 100 new UK stores with £1.3bn of investment by the end of next year, as it saw annual sales continue to jump.
The discount supermarket reported that sales increased by 8% to £12.28 billion in 2019. Meanwhile, it saw pre-tax profits jump by 49% to £271.5 million for the year.
Aldi has said it expects to create 4,000 new jobs in 2021, which is on top of the 3,000 it has created this year.
