Despite pervasive economic gloom and industry layoffs, it seems a few wireless companies are still hiring. Research In Motion plans to hire 200 new workers and U.S. Cellular is building a candidate list for 100 hires. While paltry compared with the tens of thousands of jobs lost in the wireless world since the start of the fourth quarter of 2008, the news may offer a glimmer of hope for the industry.

RIM's new jobs will be in Atlanta, according to iStockAnalyst, where the company plans to build a new facility to focus on next-generation BlackBerries.

U.S. Cellular meanwhile has 100 openings for its call center in Waukesha, Wis. The company recently attended a job fair in Wisconsin and directed hundreds of applicants to its online application site. "We're getting a lot more candidates into our pool because of the fact that so many people are out of jobs," Bill Isaac, director of U.S. Cellular's customer care center in Waukesha, told the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.  

RIM had profits of $518.3 million in its most recent quarter, up from $412.5 million in the year-ago period. U.S. Cellular posted first-quarter earnings of $84.6 million, up from $70.6 million in the year-ago quarter. 

For more:
- see this RIM article
- see this U.S. Cellular article

Related Articles:
RIM's Q4 profits, revenue exceeds expectations
RIM projects lower profits, margins despite subscriber growth
RIM posts higher revenue, adds 2.6M new BlackBerry accounts
Subscriber growth slows for U.S. Cellular
Out of Work in Wireless