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Hiring Projections Cool Off for Some Employment Categories

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts:
Karen James Cody,
BNA - Press Contact

Washington, DC (September 12, 2006) – Hiring plans for the fourth quarter of 2006 are keeping pace with third-quarter figures in some categories, but can't match the record-setting numbers reported for the same period last year, according to projections from 105 employers responding to BNA's latest quarterly employment survey.

The BNA survey finds that:

• Hiring projections for technical and professional workers remains strong in organizations of all sizes, with 28 percent of employers expecting to add positions in this category during the fourth quarter. That figure is in line with projections from last quarter (27 percent) but below fourth-quarter figures from one year ago (34 percent)
• By contrast, employment prospects have cooled for production and service workers. While a healthy 21 percent of employers still expect to add positions in this category next quarter, the figure represents a nine point decline from projections recorded last quarter (30 percent) and one year ago (30 percent).
• Planned hiring of production and service workers by smaller employers (24 percent)—those with fewer than 1,000 workers—is nearly twice that for larger employers (14 percent)
• The outlook for hiring office and clerical workers has remained relatively stable. However, fourth quarter plans (13 percent) represent a decline from projections last quarter and a 3-point decline in hiring from a year ago (16 percent).
• “Net” hiring projections – the percentage of employers planning to add new positions minus those planning cuts – suggest that the employment surge may be leveling off. Net hiring projections for all three major employment groups remain positive for the fourth quarter of 2006, yet have generally declined from levels observed during recent comparable periods.
• Filling job vacancies in the professional and technical job category has been difficult for four in ten employers (41 percent), down from 46 percent during the third quarter. Hard-to-fill vacancies are less common among employers of production and service workers (28 percent, down from 26 percent the previous quarter). Difficulties filling office and clerical jobs also have increased (14 percent, up from 8 percent the previous quarter, and 9 percent one year earlier)

Further details and breakdowns by industry, size, and region are contained in the full report. For press copies, or to interview BNA Surveys Director Joshua Joseph, contact Karen James Cody at (202) 452-4169 or kcody@bna.com .

BNA's survey of the employment outlook has been conducted quarterly since 1974. This quarter's report is based on responses from 105 human resource and employee relations executives representing a cross section of U.S. employers, both public and private.

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BNA is a leading publisher of news and analysis for professionals in business and government. Reporting from Washington, D.C. and the state capitals for more than 75 years, BNA is the oldest wholly employee-owned company in the United States.