Utah to exceed U.S. in hire rate
Tribune Staff
and Wire Services
Article Last Updated: 03/11/2008 11:55:26 PM MDT
Even as employers nationwide slashed 63,000 jobs last month, the outlook for hiring in the second quarter
dipped slightly from previous quarters, according to a survey of 14,000 companies.
The picture remains different in Utah, home to one of the top rates of employment growth nationally, which is
expected to see companies in the next three months hire at a rate higher than the U.S. average. Among the
three Utah cities surveyed by Manpower Inc. - Salt Lake City, Ogden and Orem - Ogden had the largest share
of employers who said they plan to add to their work force, at 47 percent. Forty-six percent of Ogden
companies plan no change in hiring, and 7 percent are unsure of their plans.
In Salt Lake City, 33 percent of employers surveyed said they plan to add workers, with 60 percent planning
no change and 7 percent planning a decrease. Orem's hiring forecast was dimmer, with 30 percent planning to
hire, 27 percent predicting no change and 43 percent planning to trim their work force.
Manpower doesn't release the hiring plans of individual employers.
Nationally, 26 percent of U.S. companies say they plan to increase the size of their work force, managers told
Manpower, a global staffing company. Nine percent plan a decrease, while 60 percent predict no change and 5
percent are unsure.
The numbers nationally are slightly worse than those for the same quarter
last year, when 28 percent of employers expected to hire and 7 percent planned to cut jobs.
Manpower's national net employment outlook index subtracts the percentage of employers planning to cut
jobs from those who plan to add them, and adjusts the results for seasonal variations. On that basis, the net
employment gauge fell to 14 from 18 in the second quarter of 2007.
Ogden's net employment outlook was 47 percent (tied for 10th nationally), followed by Salt Lake, at 26
percent. Orem was a negative 13 percent. The results show that in Ogden and Salt Lake, hiring continues in
earnest, while Orem's minus 13 shows that projected cutbacks at some of the companies surveyed are
overshadowing predicted employment gains.
Nationally, the results show that employers are being more thoughtful in their hiring practices, but they're not
scaling back completely, reflecting ''a widespread wait-and-see approach,'' Manpower said in a statement. It
''points to a gradual and measured downshift, not a sudden and overwhelming change.''
The quarterly survey conducted since 1962 predicts a modest slowdown in virtually every industry across the
board, from manufacturing and mining to education and wholesale and retail trade.
The outlook was bleakest in the construction industry, where 28 percent of companies anticipate growth and
13 percent expect job cuts.
Tribune Staff
and Wire Services
Article Last Updated: 03/11/2008 11:55:26 PM MDT
Even as employers nationwide slashed 63,000 jobs last month, the outlook for hiring in the second quarter
dipped slightly from previous quarters, according to a survey of 14,000 companies.
The picture remains different in Utah, home to one of the top rates of employment growth nationally, which is
expected to see companies in the next three months hire at a rate higher than the U.S. average. Among the
three Utah cities surveyed by Manpower Inc. - Salt Lake City, Ogden and Orem - Ogden had the largest share
of employers who said they plan to add to their work force, at 47 percent. Forty-six percent of Ogden
companies plan no change in hiring, and 7 percent are unsure of their plans.
In Salt Lake City, 33 percent of employers surveyed said they plan to add workers, with 60 percent planning
no change and 7 percent planning a decrease. Orem's hiring forecast was dimmer, with 30 percent planning to
hire, 27 percent predicting no change and 43 percent planning to trim their work force.
Manpower doesn't release the hiring plans of individual employers.
Nationally, 26 percent of U.S. companies say they plan to increase the size of their work force, managers told
Manpower, a global staffing company. Nine percent plan a decrease, while 60 percent predict no change and 5
percent are unsure.
The numbers nationally are slightly worse than those for the same quarter
last year, when 28 percent of employers expected to hire and 7 percent planned to cut jobs.
Manpower's national net employment outlook index subtracts the percentage of employers planning to cut
jobs from those who plan to add them, and adjusts the results for seasonal variations. On that basis, the net
employment gauge fell to 14 from 18 in the second quarter of 2007.
Ogden's net employment outlook was 47 percent (tied for 10th nationally), followed by Salt Lake, at 26
percent. Orem was a negative 13 percent. The results show that in Ogden and Salt Lake, hiring continues in
earnest, while Orem's minus 13 shows that projected cutbacks at some of the companies surveyed are
overshadowing predicted employment gains.
Nationally, the results show that employers are being more thoughtful in their hiring practices, but they're not
scaling back completely, reflecting ''a widespread wait-and-see approach,'' Manpower said in a statement. It
''points to a gradual and measured downshift, not a sudden and overwhelming change.''
The quarterly survey conducted since 1962 predicts a modest slowdown in virtually every industry across the
board, from manufacturing and mining to education and wholesale and retail trade.
The outlook was bleakest in the construction industry, where 28 percent of companies anticipate growth and
13 percent expect job cuts.
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