Holly Ledesma was laid off in July 2009 after working for the same insurance company for 7 years. Ledesma says, "I was worried and I really wanted to look for something that would be a good fit and I was a little bit concerned. After you've been employed for about 7-8 years for one employer, you don't really anticipate being laid off. So, this was a little bit scary."

However, she found a new job in October 2009 at Jackson National Life Insurance Company in Lansing. Currently, they are looking for up to 40 people to hire. Ledesma says, "In Michigan's economy, this is a great opportunity for people to apply."

Annie Topie, Manager of Community Relations says, "Jackson is a successful, growing company and...there are consistent openings within the Lansing area."

The company is doing so well, they hired just shy of 400 people in one office building alone in 2009. Vice President of Corporate Communications Tim Padot says, "When we moved into this building, we had a little more than 900 employees and today we're approaching 1,700."

Padot says the growth is in part due to the fact that they provide an annuity product that generates income for retirees. Because baby boomers are buying them, more jobs are being created. Some of those jobs include IT, service positions and a variety of other opportunities.

Topie says, "Our operations and IT areas demand different types of people. For example, our IT area has programming as a skill that's needed and operations is an area where we want people to be able to interact. Personal skills are important."

For Mid-Michigan, it means welcome jobs for people like Ledesma. Topie says they will have even more openings in the coming months because they are a growing company.

To see what career opportunities are available at Jackson National Life, Topie says to head online to www.jackson.com.