DriveTime Automotive Group and Bridgecrest Acceptance Corp. are adding to their workforces at a time when the U.S. still is shedding thousands of jobs because of the pandemic.

The companies announced they will be hiring more than 500 full-time workers nationwide for roles in retail, automotive repair and customer service as part of their 2021 growth strategy.

In fact, DriveTime, Bridgecrest and SilverRock are hosting a virtual career fair on Thursday for all customer service positions in both Dallas and Mesa, Ariz.

More than 60 open DriveTime positions include frontline sales representatives at DriveTime dealerships, known as customer experience guides. Another 100 of these open roles are for skilled automotive technician and cosmetic repair specialists.

In addition, DriveTime indicated customer service operations centers will be hiring 100 employees a month for the first quarter of 2021 in areas including customer service, loan servicing, underwriting, titles and automotive claims. The average pay will be $19 an hour plus bonus.

Due to the current pandemic, many positions offer a temporary work from home option, according to the company.

The DriveTime hiring plans arrived as the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) reacted on Friday to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

“December’s employment report fittingly capped a bizarre and painful year. Job losses totaled a staggering 140,000, but they were highly concentrated in restaurants, hotels and casinos,” NAFCU chief economist and vice president of research Curt Long said.

“Areas like construction, manufacturing and even retail showed strong gains during the month. The headline number will keep Congress on track to provide more fiscal relief, but the underlying figures still support the view that the economy can recover fairly quickly once vaccines are more widely distributed.”

Keeping safety protocols in mind, DriveTime said interviews will be conducted virtually during its upcoming career fair. You can reserve your time slot now by going to https://events.indeed.com/event/78344/.

Applicants also can see the full list of openings and apply online via the company’s career site at jobs.drivetime.com.