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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Duke City Scores High in Survey of Business Staffing Plans

Journal Staff and Wire Report
    MILWAUKEE— Thirty percent of U.S. companies intend to increase staff in the second quarter this year, according to a survey of 16,000 employers prepared for release today.
    The survey also found that Albuquerque-area employers expect to hire at such a bullish pace— 59 percent plan to hire more employees— that the area finished eighth best in the nation among survey participants.
    Elsewhere in New Mexico, the survey reported that about 80 percent of Roswell-area employers plan to increase staffing; 47 percent in Santa Fe; and 30 percent in the Las Cruces area.
    The national report marks the ninth straight quarter that more than 20 percent of the companies surveyed said they plan to add staff. It was 23 percent for the first quarter of this year. The last time the reading topped 30 percent was in the third quarter of 2005, when 31 percent of companies surveyed said they planned to add staff.
    Six percent of companies surveyed expect to reduce employment in the second quarter, while 58 percent expect no change, the survey said. Six percent of companies were unsure of their plans, according to the survey, which began in 1962.
    The trend shows a healthy, stable economy, said Milwaukee-based global staffing firm Manpower Inc.
    Manpower CEO Jeff Joerres said a shortage of workers is forcing companies to be more competitive in their hiring practices.
    Mining companies, which include oil and gas field workers, expect significant gains in hiring in the second quarter, with 37 percent planning to increase their payrolls and 3 percent planning to decrease, the survey said.
    Construction firms outpaced the other industries in the survey, with 43 percent planning to increase staffing and 3 percent planning to reduce it, the survey said.
    The hiring outlook in the West outpaced the other regions with 35 percent of companies planning to increase staffing and 5 percent planning to decrease.
    "In the Albuquerque area, employers expect much more hiring activity than in the first quarter, when 30 percent of the companies interviewed intended to increase headcount and 27 percent planned to decrease it," local Manpower spokesman Jeff Parker said.
    "Employers are also significantly more optimistic about hiring than they were a year ago, when 38 percent of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely and 14 percent intended to cut back," he said.