ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220053
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
U.S. corporations have been adding jobs at a quicker pace, more than offsetting positions eliminated in business makeovers, according to a survey by a management group.
``Downsizing is no longer the dominant theme of change in the U.S. work force,'' said Eric Rolfe Greenberg, director of management studies for the American Management Association.
The group's report, being released this week, said:
* 68 percent of the 1,441 large and medium-size companies surveyed created jobs during the 12 months ended June 30. That was up from 58 percent in the survey a year ago. * * 49 percent of the companies said they snipped jobs in the year ending in June, compared with 50 percent in the year-earlier questionnaire.
* Overall, the average work force among the responding companies grew 6 percent, compared with a gain of 4.5 percent in the previous survey.
Companies are redoing their work forces ``to better meet today's complex and rapidly shifting market demands,'' Greenberg said in a statement. ``For almost every job eliminated, another was created.''
``A new picture of the American work force has emerged in which downsizing, a staple of corporate vocabulary, has actually become a misnomer,'' he said. ``Companies have learned that smaller is not necessarily better.''
The association's 9,500 members employ about a quarter of the nation's work force. The group trains managers through seminars, books, periodicals and other materials.
In its 10th annual survey, the group found more companies eliminating jobs after reshuffling operations, dropping, for example, a unit or a supplier. Positions also were pared during a reworking of technological processes.
Fewer companies dismissed workers because of a lack of demand for their goods.
Of those reporting job losses, slightly more than half were in wholesale or retail trade or offered business and professional services, such as lawyers and accountants. A little less than half were in manufacturing and financial services.
Large companies were more likely than smaller ones to report cutbacks.
``Salaried workers in general, and middle managers in particular, continue to bear the brunt of corporate reductions,'' the survey said. Middle managers represent 5 percent to 8 percent of the work force, but typically sustain 15 percent to 20 percent of job losses.
On the other side of the ledger, job gains were recorded throughout the economy.
About 74 percent - nearly three out of four - of the companies offering business and professional services added positions in the past year, up from 68 percent in the previous report.
Wholesale and retail companies were not far off, with 72 percent saying they hired new workers over the last year, up from 53 percent. Nearly 70 percent of manufacturers and financial service firms created jobs.
Nearly 60 percent of the new posts were hourly jobs, with about one-quarter in professional or technical areas. The results indicate the new jobs require less supervisory and managerial expertise and more technological know-how, the report said.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB