U.S. Hiring Should Rise in Second Half of 2012

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jobsWith the consequences of the recession still lingering and U.S. jobs recovery lagging behind recovery rates for previous recessions, the back half of 2012 looks to show improvement in hiring rates over the same period last year. A survey conducted by CareerBuilder found that 44 percent of private sector employers are planning to hire full-time staff on a permanent basis during the period of July 1 through December 31, 2012; a 9 percent increase over 2011.

“The rate of job creation has been slower than what we would have expected at this point in the recovery, but the market is stable,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “Two years ago, the hiring activity in the U.S. was driven primarily by large employers recruiting in metropolitan areas for a handful of industries or job functions. Today, we see job listings in all industries, market sizes and company sizes. The outlook for the remainder of the year is better than 2011, but it will follow the same pattern of steady progress rather than a surge in job growth. Employers will remain careful as they assess barriers and opportunities for growth in the economy and their own businesses.”

Each hiring category is expected to trend upward from last year with 44 percent of employers planning to hire permanent full-time employees (compared to 35 percent in 2011), 21 percent expecting to hire part-time employees (compared to 15 percent in 2011), and 21 percent expecting to hire contracted temp employees (12 percent last year). The areas expected to feel the most impact include customer service (24 percent plan to hire), IT (22 percent), sales (21 percent), administrative (16 percent), and business development (13 percent).

By Joshua Bjerke