Manpower: R.I. employers expect to hire at ‘respectable pace’ in 1Q

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island employers expect to hire at “a respectable pace” in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, released this week by ManpowerGroup.
Rhode Island employers, like employers in the other 49 states and District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are positive about hiring in the first quarter of 2015, but are projecting the weakest outlooks, along with employers in New Jersey, Alaska and New Hampshire.
In comparison, employers in Hawaii, North Dakota, Delaware, Michigan and Texas indicate the strongest job prospects.
From January to March, 15 percent of the Rhode Island companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 8 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 72 percent expect to keep current staff levels and 5 percent are uncertain about hiring plans.
Rhode Island’s net employment outlook (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 and then adjusting for seasonal effects) is 7 percent, while the nationwide net employment outlook is 16 percent.
“Compared to the start of 2014 when the net employment outlook was 5 percent, the employment forecast is slightly brighter,” Manpower spokesperson Becca Dernberger said in a statement about Rhode Island.
For the coming quarter, job prospects in Rhode Island appear best in wholesale and retail trade, professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, other services, and government. Employers in construction, durable goods manufacturing, nondurable goods manufacturing, and transportation and utilities plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in information and financial activities is expected to remain unchanged.
Manpower said the 16 percent nationwide net employment outlook represents a level that hasn’t been seen since the first quarter of 2008. That outlook is “slightly improved” from a year ago at this time, Manpower said.
More than 18,000 employers were surveyed in the United States by Manpower, with 19 percent anticipating an increase in staff levels during the first quarter, 6 percent expecting to reduce workforce levels, 73 percent reporting no changes in hiring plans and 2 percent saying they are undecided about hiring plans.
“As overall demand improves, we continue to see consistent, gradual strengthening in U.S. employers’ hiring plans,” ManpowerGroup CEO Jonas Prising said in a statement. “There’s a little wind at our backs, as evidenced by the broadly positive hiring plans, and we see that as boding well for 2015.”
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.

No posts to display