Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290085
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
American companies plan to add workers to payrolls in early 1995 at the fastest pace in six years, according to a quarterly survey by a temporary employment company.
The findings by the Manpower Inc. survey substantiated other data that show the U.S. economy is continuing to strengthen, creating more jobs as demand rises for American goods and services at home and abroad.
Manpower, a Milwaukee employment firm, said 22 percent of companies it surveyed said they plan to increase hiring in the January-March quarter, while 12 percent said they expect to cut their payrolls.
In the Roanoke region, however, only 7 percent of the employers Manpower surveyed expect to increase staffing levels in the first three months of 1995, while 23 percent reported preparing for work force cutbacks. The remaining 70 percent expect no changes.
Manpower's Roanoke spokeswoman, Ann Ward, said the hiring reservations are due to seasonal slowdowns in production and reductions in post-holiday cuts.
"Our current outlook is far worse than three months ago, when 27 percent said they would increase their employment rolls while 7 percent expected fewer workers," Ward said.
The national hiring rate is the fastest since a similar 22 percent of poll respondents said they'd increase hiring during the first quarter of 1989. The latest results compare with 18 percent of U.S. employers anticipating more hiring and 13 percent planning decreased hiring in the comparable period a year ago.
American manufacturers reported the most active hiring plans. Among makers of long-lasting products such as machinery and appliances, 32 percent said they planned to hire more people, while 9 percent said they planned to decrease employment.
Among makers of nondurable goods, 24 percent plan to recruit more and 10 percent will reduce their payrolls.
In another finding of economic strength, wholesale and retail trading businesses plan to retain many workers after the holiday rush, the poll showed, in contrast to their historical tendency to lay workers off after Christmas.
``Any question as to the durability of this recovery in the short term is certainly resolved in the new findings,'' said Mitchell Fromstein, Manpower's chief executive officer.
He said the results also suggest an underlying labor shortage looms, particularly at lower-wage jobs.
Manpower is one of the world's leading temporary help firms, providing employment to 1.5 million people through operations in 36 countries.
It has been conducting the employment survey for 18 years, based on telephone interviews with more than 154,000 public and private employers in 469 U.S. cities.
by CNB