Though small, hiring gains expected during August 2012 will surpass the rate from the same month last year, according to a new Leading Indicators of National Employment report released by the Society for Human Resource Management.
The report, a survey of 500 service-sector companies and 500 manufacturing companies, shows that service-sector hiring will rise by a net of 9.4 points and manufacturing-sector hiring will increase by a net of five points when comparing August 2012 to August 2011.
A closer look shows:
- In the service sector, 33.8 percent of companies will hire while 5.2 percent will trim payrolls, leaving a hiring net of 28.6 percent. The remaining 71.4 percent report no staffing changes are expected in August.
- In the manufacturing sector, 49 percent of HR professionals said their company plans to hire workers while 8.4 percent will cut jobs, leaving a positive net of 40.6 percent. The remaining 59.4 percent are expected to hold steady with no hiring or layoffs.
LINE features the only national monthly employment indices capturing HR professionals’ month-ahead hiring expectations, and past-month recruiting difficulty. The report also includes a new-hire compensation index and an index of exempt and non-exempt job vacancies.
The most recent recruiting-difficulty index data—July 2012—shows a net 15.9 percent of manufacturing sector respondents had more difficulty recruiting during the month. In the services sector, a net of 5.1 percent of HR professionals reported greater recruiting difficulty during July 2012.
Read the full SHRM LINE Report.