Among employers surveyed, 25 percent plan to hire more employees in the year’s third quarter. Just 1 percent plan to reduce their payrolls, while by far most — 74 percent of employers — expect to hold steady at current staff levels, the survey found. No one indicated they are not sure of their hiring plans.
All of that yields what Manpower calls a “net employment outlook” of 24 percent. (The number is the percentage of employers planning to hire minus the percentage planning to cut staff.)
“Local employers anticipate a steady hiring pace compared to Q2 2017 when the net employment outlook was 24 percent,” said Tom Maher, who owns the ManpowerGroup Dayton franchise. “Last year at this time, employers expected less hiring activity when the outlook was 22 percent.”
In the second quarter this year, 24 percent of those surveyed planned to hire, no one planned to cut staff, 73 percent said they would maintain current staffing levels while three percent simply weren’t sure.
A year ago for the third quarter, 27 percent of employers surveyed planned to bring on more workers, while five percent intended to reduce staff. Planning to hold steady were 67 percent of respondents while 1 percent did not know.
That desire for qualified workers is in line with what Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce leaders are seeing, according to Chris Kershner, vice president for public policy and economic development.
“I would say that the general feeling we’re getting is that Dayton employers are in growth mode,” Kershner said. “There is opportunity for them to grow their operations and grow in the Dayton market.”
For the summer, Manpower identified the hottest hiring sectors as construction, manufacturing of both durable and non-durable goods, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality and government. Hiring in information, financial activities and education and health services is expected to remain unchanged, the staffing company said.
Nationally, of more than 11,000 employers, 24 percent expect to add to their workforces, and four percent expect a decline in their payrolls in the third quarter. Seventy percent of employers anticipate making no change to staff levels, and the remaining two percent of employers are undecided about hiring plans.
When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the national net employment outlook is 17 percent, the same as the second quarter, Manpower said.
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