While employers' fall hiring plans are not expected to provide dramatic gains in job opportunities, there is a low risk for layoffs or job losses, according to a new employment survey by Bloomberg BNA.
Still, hiring prospects for nonmanagement workers are much improved from a few years ago, and news of layoffs and staffing reductions are at their lowest levels since the recession in late 2007.
Hiring plans have remained mostly modest since early 2011, and there is little to suggest any sustained trend for all employee groups. As such, over the past eight quarters, the percentage of respondents reporting hiring plans has remained within 5 percent for both production and service workers at 21 percent to 26 percent and technical and professional employees at 28 percent to 33 percent. For office and clerical staff, the range has been slightly at 12 percent to 19 percent.
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The survey also finds that while robust employment opportunities, hiring prospects are still much improved over a few years ago, and staffing reductions have returned to near pre-recession levels. In the fourth quarter, only 6 percent of respondents plan to cut technical and professional employment levels, 8 percent of respondents plan to cut production and service staff and 7 percent of respondents plan to cut office and clerical staff.
Filling open positions remains a problem, the survey finds. In July and August, 24 percent of respondents said they had difficulties filling production and service openings, which is up eight points from the previous three months, and 11 percent of respondents said they struggled finding qualified office and clerical staff as opposed to 5 percent from the last three months. Another 47 percent of respondents said troubles filling technical and professional staff.
Although recent hiring troubles could suggest a lack of qualified applicants or more competition for workers, they could also show that employers have expanded job requirements for the few positions they are filling.
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