ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, May 28, 1996                  TAG: 9605290021
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-6  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER 

EMPLOYERS HIRING EARLY THIS YEAR

A JOB SURVEY indicates three in four companies already have a full payroll for fall.

Job-seekers shouldn't wait until late summer to begin shopping the want ads. Three in four Roanoke-area employers already have enough employees to operate during the third quarter of this year, according to a survey released today by Manpower Inc.

Nearly one in four expect to be hiring, about the same percentage as a year ago, the Milwaukee, Wis., temporary help agency said in its quarterly hiring outlook report.

Every three months, Manpower asks a group of employers nationally whether they will be hiring more employees, laying off workers or holding steady during an upcoming quarter. It portrays the results as a reliable gauge of job market strength, but does not disclose the number of employers contacted in any one area.

The company said that for the July-September quarter, 23 percent of Roanoke-area employers surveyed predicted they will hire; 77 percent predicted no change in the size of their work forces. None predicted layoffs.

Statewide, 25 percent predicted they will hire, 66 predicted no change and 8 percent predicted they will lay off workers. One percent did not know.

The national outlook also was mixed, with 27 percent of those surveyed predicting larger payrolls, 63 percent predicting no change and 7 percent predicting layoffs. Three percent did not know.

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