One in five U.S. employers (21 percent) plan to add staff in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey. Of the more than 11,500 U.S. employers surveyed, 71 percent expect to maintain their headcounts; just six percent expect workforce reductions, and two percent are unsure. Employers across all sectors report favorable hiring intentions, with those in durable goods manufacturing reporting the strongest intentions in the past 10 years.
“Technological disruption is transforming manufacturing into a high-tech, high-skilled industry,” said Michael Stull, Senior Vice President, Manpower North America. “At the same time, demand for ‘Made in America’ continues to grow and organizations are stepping up their manufacturing efforts here on U.S. soil. From New York to New Mexico, manufacturing companies are looking for increasingly specific skills. That’s why we’re working with companies like Rockwell Automation to build the right-skilled advanced manufacturing workforce to help fuel America’s growth. Other sectors would do well to follow the upskilling trend — the skills of the future will look very different from today. We can’t afford to wait and see exactly what these skills might be. We need to build the plane while flying it too.”
Taking seasonal variations into account, the Net Employment Outlook¹ for Q4 2017 is +17%. This marks the 13th consecutive quarter with an Outlook of +15% or stronger. Nationwide hiring prospects are unchanged from last quarter and relatively stable when compared to one year ago.
Hiring Plans By Location, Industry Sector
Nationwide, employers in all 13 industry sectors expect to add staff in Q4 2017. Industries reporting the strongest second quarter hiring intentions are: leisure and hospitality (+28%), professional and business services (+22%), wholesale and retail trade (+20%), manufacturing durable goods (+18%), and transportation and utilities (+18%).
Employers in all four regions in the U.S. have a positive outlook for their Q4 2017 hiring plans. When compared with the previous quarter, hiring intentions increase by four percentage points in the Northeast and are relatively stable in three regions. Compared with this time one year ago, hiring prospects are slightly stronger in the Northeast and remain relatively stable in the other three regions, with employers in the South and Midwest reporting no change year-over-year and employers in the West reporting a decrease of one percentage point.
See the infographic below for more details on the hiring outlook in industry sectors and locations across the U.S.
¹The Net Employment Outlook is 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.
