Bloomberg BNA’s Quarterly Employment Survey Predicts Rise for Q2 2012 Employment Prospects

The responses by the 344 employers polled by Bloomberg’s survey indicated that hiring projections for the second quarter of 2012 are up for production and service employees and office and clerical employees. Projections for technical and professional staff are unchanged over the quarter. About 25 percent of participants reported that they will add production and service positions in Q2, up 4 percent over Q1. A further 15 of employers foresee adding some number of office and clerical staff during the quarter, up 2 percent over Q1. Almost 30 percent of employers expect to add technical and professional employees during the quarter, unchanged since the first quarter and down 12 percentage points since Q2 of 2009.

Net hiring projections, the percentage of new hires opposed to the percentage of job cuts at a single employer, have risen for the first time since Q4 of 2011 for production and service employees and office and clerical employees. Net hires for these production and service positions are up 20 percent over Q1 while net hires for office and clerical staff have risen 8 percentage points for Q2. Layoff projections have remained unchanged over the year. Employers reporting layoffs of technical and professional staff sat at 6 percent in Q1, down only 1 point since Q4 2011. Layoffs for production and service workers have fallen over last quarter to 8 percent. Office and clerical employee layoffs have remained the same at 7 percent for Q2. Job vacancies have remained consistently flat since Q4 2010.