Hiring Intentions Remain Stable as Employers Report Second Strongest Outlook in Past Decade

March 13, 2018

U.S. employer hiring confidence is staying strong in Q2 2018 as one in five plan to grow their workforce in the three months ahead. The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook for Q2 2018 is +18%, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey of more than 11,500 U.S. employers.

Organizations are planning to add staff across all 13 industry sectors in Q2 2018. Employers report the strongest hiring intentions in Leisure & Hospitality (+28%) as the economy picks up. Strong Outlooks for Professional & Business Services (+24%) and Wholesale & Retail Trade (+23%) point to demand-driven growth in line with increased wages. Employers in Wholesale & Retail Trade report some of the most optimistic Outlooks in more than 16 years as online retail continues to grow and the increase in distribution workers is expected to rise. The weakest Outlooks are reported in Mining (+15%), Government Information (+14%) and Nondurable Goods Manufacturing (+12%).

Locally, employers in Michigan expect to hire at a brisk pace during Q2 2018. From April to June, 25% of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 2% expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 73% expect to maintain their current workforce levels and 0% are not certain of their hiring plans. This yields a Net Employment Outlook of 23%.

To read the full Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the U.S., go to: manpowergroup.us/MEOS/ or to access the downloadable pdf version of the complete report, click here.

The next Manpower Employment Outlook Survey will be released on June 12, 2018 to report hiring expectations for Quarter 3 2018. Sign up here to receive email notification when the survey is available each quarter.

Source: manpowergroup.us/MEOS/