According to The Conference Board‘s release dated September 7, 2010 all indications are that hiring will slow down through the end of the year however the employment index is up 9.4 percent from a year ago.
The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight indicators including respondents stating “Jobs are Hard to Get” (The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey®) as well as The U.S. Department of Labor’s claims for unemployment insurance.
These findings reflect the trends that we also found in the survey we conducted earlier this year with the DirectEmployers Association members. Respondents stated they anticipated hiring to pickup in Q2 and slow back down in Q4, with the bulk of their hiring completed in Q2 & Q3.
Additionally, we asked how many new employees do you anticipate hiring? Answers were anywhere from 50 from one respondent to 45,000 from another and all varieties in between.
Notable responses included:
“We will likely hire only to replace someone. We are maintaining current headcount levels. This is part of our strategic initiatives to control costs.”
“8000 into our Management training program and probably an additional 4000 in other hourly support roles between our three brands.”
When asked what locations they would be hiring the answers were all across the country as well as globally and in many different industries.
Notable respones included:
“Locations throughout US. Occupations to include customer service, retail sales, business sales, M2M application development & sales.”
“Primary hiring will occur in the U.S., U.K. and China. The types of occupations vary within the Clinical Research industry. Anything from highly scientific to entry level positions.”
Most employers I speak with state they are still optimistic that the economy is getting better but it is definitely going to be a slow incline and it is certainly volatile.
