Though federal data points to a bleak employment market, a work force consulting firm says hiring has actually remained stable in the past months.
Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup says statistics should be revised from the zero growth rate in August to instead reflect a gain of 57,000 jobs, with the temporary staffing industry creating 53,000 jobs over the last three months.
"The world is reacting in a hyperbolic manner to the unverified saw-toothing in the employment numbers," says Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup chairman and CEO. "When you look at the revised jobs numbers over the past three months, hiring activity paints a steady picture – which is exactly what you'd expect to see in a slow and tepid recovery and is completely aligned with ManpowerGroup's forward-looking hiring confidence index and what more than 65,000 employers tell us they are seeing in their business: 'It's not great, but it's going OK.'
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"The bottom line is that demand trumps economic uncertainty. The ripple effects of Europe's banking crisis don't help the situation, and companies that bolstered their workforce strategies have a critical edge during times like this."
In September, ManpowerGroup released its Fourth Quarter Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which finds that employers anticipate hiring to be stable throughout 2011. Based on the seasonally adjusted survey results, the net employment outlook for this quarter is up 7 percent, an increase from 6 percent during the same timeframe of 2010 and down from the 8 percent outlook from the last quarter.
Fifty-two percent of employers are having difficulty filling important positions, according to the ManpowerGroup's 2011 Talent Shortage Survey. This is the highest percentage the study found in its six-year history. ManpowerGroup says employers should consider the long term because the talent mismatch will continue to worsen as there is greater demand for products and services.
"ManpowerGroup continues to see more employers revamp their approach to short- and long-term work force development, but I can't warn employers enough to clamp down on pinpointing essential skills, needed today and in the future, and finding what we call 'The Teachable Fit' to develop them in existing workers and candidates," Joerres says. "When it's time to hire, scrambling to align the right talent is not an option for businesses seeking to remain competitive.
"A range of micro and macro factors affect accessibility to the right talent, and these factors continue to evolve and curtail hiring plans without much notice."
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