CT Businesses Expect More Hiring During 2nd Quarter, Survey Says

Employers in Connecticut expect to hire at a respectable pace during the second quarter of 2016, which began on April 1, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. From April to June, 19 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 6 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 75 percent expect to maintain their current workforce levels. This yields a Net Employment Outlook of 13 percent, according to the Survey.

“Hiring intentions are stronger compared to Q1 2016 when the Net Employment Outlook was 8 percent,” said Manpower spokesperson Becca Dernberger. “The hiring pace is expected to slow down compared to one year ago when the Net Employment Outlook was 19 percent.”

For the quarter just underway, job prospects appear best in Construction, Durable Goods Manufacturing, Transportation & Utilities, Wholesale & Retail Trade, Information, Financial Activities, Professional & Business Services, Education & Health Services, Leisure & Hospitality and Other Services. Employers in Nondurable Goods Manufacturing plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in Government is expected to remain unchanged, according to the projections.

Plans for potentially massive state employee layoffs, now anticipated in the coming weeks, had not been announced when the survey was conducted.

In the Northeast, the expectations are somewhat better than in Connecticut, as 21 percent  of employers surveyed plan to increase staff levels during Quarter 2 2016 while 4 percent expect a decrease in payrolls, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +17 percent.

Among Connecticut’s largest municipalities, the net employment outlook for Q2 includes 14 percent in Bridgeport, 13 percent in Hartford and 11percent in New Haven.  Survey results were developed for the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas, based on business establishment count.  Leading the list were Charlotte and Omaha at 29 percent, followed by Albany and Boise City and 28 percent, Dallas and Providence and 27 percent, and Phoenix and Toledo at 26 percent.

The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity.

Of the more than 11,000 employers surveyed in the United States, 22 percent expect to add to their workforces, and 4 percent expect a decline in their payrolls during Quarter 2 2016. Seventy-two percent of employers anticipate making no change to staff levels, and the remaining 2 percent of employers are undecided about their hiring plans. When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the Net Employment Outlook is +16 percent, relatively stable compared to the Quarter 1 2016 Outlook, +17 percent.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforces during the next quarter. The weakest outlook for 2016 Q2 are projected in Youngstown, Akron, Baton Rouge, and Las Vegas.

“The U.S. labor market is strong compared to the global situation, with the economy still generating a sufficient number of jobs to keep the unemployment rate down,” said Kip Wright, Senior Vice President, Manpower North America. “However, we now live in a world of ‘certain uncertainty,’ where increased volatility may be here to stay. As a result, organizations and individuals need to be more agile in order to better adapt to this rapidly evolving environment, and a key differentiator to success is attracting and developing the right skills.”