Of the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 27% expect to increase their workforces during the fourth quarter of 2007, while 9% expect to trim their payrolls. Fifty-eight percent expect no change in the hiring pace, and 6% are undecided about their hiring plans.
The seasonally adjusted survey results show that in the majority of industry sectors the hiring pace is expected to remain steady during the final months of 2007. Employers in Construction, Durable and Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing, Wholesale/Retail Trade, Finance/Insurance/Real Estate, Education and Services foresee a hiring climate that is relatively unchanged from the third quarter forecast. Mining and Transportation/Public Utilities employers anticipate a slight downturn in hiring pace, while employers in the Public Administration sector foresee improved job prospects compared to the previous quarter.
"Companies that deal with producing goods are struggling, but the service sector is doing very well," said Jonas Prising, President of Manpower North America. "We can clearly see this trend in the survey results, with Services employers reporting the strongest hiring intentions for the fourth quarter, and those in the Manufacturing and Construction sectors coming in with weaker employment projections."
At the regional level, job prospects are most vigorous in the West and weakest in the Northeast for the second consecutive quarter. A notable milestone, Services employers in the West are more optimistic about hiring than they have been in more than 25 years of survey data. Quarter-over-quarter comparisons show that employers in the Northeast, Midwest, South and West expect hiring to remain stable for the next three months.
In addition to the United States, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted in 26 other countries and territories. The quarterly report from Manpower Inc. is the most extensive, forward-looking employment survey in the world, gathering data from nearly 52,000 employers across the globe each quarter.
The strongest fourth quarter hiring prospects reported globally were in Peru, India, Singapore, Costa Rica, Argentina, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Hong Kong. Italian employers again reported the least robust hiring plans globally. Employers in 11 countries and territories are reporting improved hiring plans compared to the third quarter, while job prospects are expected to improve in 14 countries on a year-over-year basis.
In the Americas, employers in Peru, Costa Rica and Argentina are most optimistic about hiring in the next three months. Mexican employers continue to report strong hiring expectations, while the pace of hiring in Canada is expected to remain stable from the third quarter to the fourth, but be slightly slower compared to the fourth quarter of 2006.
Of the countries surveyed in Europe, employers in Norway, Sweden, Spain and Germany are most optimistic about adding to their workforces. Hiring expectations in all of these countries increased moderately compared to the fourth quarter of 2006. In contrast, hiring optimism among Irish employers fell considerably from one year ago.
Employers across the eight countries and territories surveyed in the Asia Pacific region are reporting varying degrees of positive hiring expectations. Employer optimism increased from the third quarter and one year ago in four of eight countries and territories surveyed. The strongest hiring plans were reported in India, Singapore, Japan and Australia, while employers in Taiwan and China reported the weakest hiring outlooks in the region.
