MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — Demand for skilled talent continues to grow as employers across the U.S. are reporting positive hiring intentions nationwide (up 19 percent) across all 50 states, according to the Q2 2019 ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey.
For the coming quarter in West Central Ohio, employers expect to hire at a solid pace. In the U.S., this is the seventh consecutive year of double-digit hiring outlooks, according to the survey of more than 11,500 U.S. employers. The Q2 2019 employment outlook comes after the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January jobs report marked 100 months of consecutive job growth in America with approximately 19 million gains since October 2010.
Among employers surveyed, 28 percent plan to hire more employees from April through June. This number is offset by the 5 percent who plan to reduce payrolls, while 67 percent of employers expect to maintain current staff levels and none indicated uncertainty about hiring plans. This yields a net employment outlook of 23 percent.
“West Central Ohio employers anticipate stronger hiring pace compared to Q1 2019 when the net rmployment outlook was 20 percent,” said Joanie Krein, spokesperson for Manpower, a ManpowerGroup brand. “At this time last year, employers expected pick up hiring activity when the outlook was 17 percent.”
For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in construction, durable goods manufacturing, nondurable goods manufacturing, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, financial activities, professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality and government. In contrast, employers in information and other services expect hiring levels to remain unchanged.
“Our ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is the most extensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind,” said Tom Maher, spokesperson for Experis, a ManpowerGroup brand. “As technology and automation continue to transform the world of work, it’s important to learn from the past to ensure a great future. That’s why our findings from each quarterly MEOS combined with our insights into the World of Work and rich suite of innovative workforce solutions are so vital for every employer.”
Of the more than 11,500 employers surveyed in the United States, 24 percent expect to add to their workforces and 3 percent expect a decline in their payrolls during Quarter 2 2019. Seventy-two percent of employers anticipate making no change to staff levels and the remaining 1 percent of employers are undecided about their hiring plans. When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the Net Employment Outlook is up 19 percent, which is relatively stable compared to the Quarter 1 2019 Outlook of up 20 percent.
• Nationwide, employers in all 13 industry sectors expect to add staff in Q2 2019. The strongest outlooks are reported in transportation and utilities (up 25 percent), leisure and hospitality (up 25 percent), wholesale and retail trade (up 24 percent) and professional and business services (up 23 percent) followed by mining (up 19 percent), construction (up 19 percent), durable goods manufacturing (up 19 percent) and nondurable goods manufacturing (up 17 percent).
• Both the South and the West have the highest regional outlooks (up 20 percent) in the country. Hiring prospects in the Midwest (up 19 percent) are a close second with employers in the Northeast (up 18 percent) not far behind. In the Midwest (up 20 percent), Northeast (up 18 percent) and West, the outlook is up a percentage point (up 20 percent) year-over-year and up two percentage points in the South.
• Employers in Indiana (up 33 percent), Maine (up 33 percent), Alaska (up 28 percent), Colorado (up 27 percent), Kansas (up 26 percent), North Carolina (up 26 percent) and Oregon (up 26 percent) report the strongest outlooks nationwide. Of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, the strongest job gains are expected in Greensboro, North Carolina (up 35 percent), Denver, Colorado (up 34 percent), Indianapolis, Indiana (up 33 percent), Sacramento, California (up 32 percent), Albany, New York (up 31 percent), Deltona, Florida (up 31 percent) and Madison, Wisconsin (31 percent).
The next ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey to report hiring expectations for Quarter 3 2019 will be released on June 11.
