Good news for seasonal workers: Toys R Us are ramping up for the holiday season to hire thousands of employees and will also be recruiting to fill retail jobs in Illinois.

The giant toy retailer is looking to hire up to 45,000 employees nationwide. The New Jersey-based retailer said this will double their current number of employees.

Toys R Us has Express stores, regional stores, and their Babies R Us stores as well.

Around 600 of the new Express stores are opening up that will create a need for a lot more employees, 10,000 more than last year’s 35,000.

Managers, cashiers, and sales associates are all needed for the stores.

Distribution centers are hiring too. Seasonal workers also fill positions at company’s distribution centers in Dallas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, NewJersey and Ohio.

Current employees will be eligible to take on additional hours to plump up their wallets during the holiday season.

Walsh Construction of Chicago has been awarded a contract to build a maximum security prison at Fort Madison and will be recruiting for construction jobs in Illinois.

The Iowa Dept. of Administrative Services awarded Walsh the $116 million contract for the 800-bed prison. The plans were announced Monday by the department.

Walsh was the lowest bidder for the new prison. Expected completetion date is Dec. 2012, and final negotiations are still ongoing before a written contract is put forth.

Approximately 300-500 workers will work at the prison once it is opened.

Those working on the prison project will primarily be Iowa residents. Under an agreement, Walsh Construction can only bring core employees to the job site.

Iowa code states that Iowa workers be given preference for the project.

Other bidders included: William Brothers Construction, Peoria, Ill., $117.5 million; the Weitz Co., Des Moines, $121.5 million; R.C. Construction LLC, East Peoria, Ill., $121.8 million; Knutson Construction Services, Minneapolis, $122.5 million; and J.E. Dunn Construction, West Des Moines, $126.7 million.

Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services are opening a production facility in Indiana to service jobs in Illinois.

Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services, a provider of corrosion control services, announced today that it will site its newest production facility here, creating 12 new jobs by 2013.

The company, which conducts surface preparation and applies corrosion resistant coatings to industrial products and wind energy components, will invest $167,000 to equip and improve a 25,500 square-foot building at 910 Summa Dr. in Elkhart.

“We welcome this new investment from Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services and are glad that they see Indiana as an affordable place to start a new operation,” said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

ABC Services plans to begin hiring production workers and supervisory associates early in 2011 as operations commence at the Elkhart County facility.

“We have seen a tremendous need for the kinds of specialized services that ABC can provide. Our manufacturing facility in South Carolina is running almost at capacity now and we would like to expand in order to take advantage of potential business opportunities. Many of our customers are located in the Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois area. It makes sense from a timing and a cost standpoint to get ‘close to the customer,’” said Chris Wert, chief financial officer of Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services. “After researching and visiting many communities in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, we determined that Elkhart was the perfect mix of the right location, the right people and the right infrastructure. We are very excited about becoming a part of the Elkhart community.”

Headquartered in Spartanburg, S.C., ABC Services specializes in providing corrosion protection to wind energy components including hubs, gearboxes and generator frames. The company has serviced more than 5,000 parts for customers including General Electric, in the wind energy industry.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services up to $55,000 in performance-based tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. The city of Elkhart will be granting a low-interest capital loan to support the project.

“Companies continue to demonstrate that Elkhart is a prime location for manufacturing and distribution. We are excited that Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services will be joining our community,” said Mayor Dick Moore. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and we welcome them into our community with open arms.”

ABC Services’ announced location in Elkhart comes just more than one month after orthopedics manufacturer Biomet Inc. announced it would invest more than $26 million to consolidate manufacturing operations from New Jersey to its North Central Indiana campus, creating 278 new jobs in nearby Warsaw.

About Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services
Abrasive Blasting and Coating Services is a family-owned provider of corrosion control services for customers in the industrial products and energy markets. Headquartered in Spartanburg, S.C. ABC Services offers customers more than 14 years of experience.

Jobs are opening up, and many new employers plan to hire for jobs in Illinois, according to a new survey from Manpower.

A seasonally adjusted net 5% of firms said they intend to hire in the fourth quarter, about flat from the 6% who said they planned to hire in the third quarter, but up from a record low of negative 2% a year ago, according to the Milwaukee-based firm’s survey of more than 18,000 U.S. employers.

Employers’ hiring plans were negative for the last three quarters of 2009, but positive for all four quarters in 2010, according to the survey.

Still, in a robust economy, Manpower’s seasonally adjusted net employment outlook hovers in the low- to mid-20s. Before the record low of negative 2% for the third and fourth quarters of 2009, the survey’s previous low point was a net 1% hiring outlook for the third quarter of 1982. The survey started in 1962.

“The employment outlook has been positive for all four quarters but clearly it’s flattening out,” said Jonas Prising, president of Manpower in the Americas.

Employers’ hiring outlook “remains better than last year all the way through but it indicates that employers are taking a very cautious approach to hiring,” he said. “They still want to maintain and hold on to their current work force but are only anticipating cautious hiring.”

The Manpower survey measures the percentage of firms planning to hire minus those intending layoffs. Manpower doesn’t measure the number of jobs.

Separately, the U.S. economy lost 54,000 nonfarm jobs in August, though the private sector gained 67,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department