The overall outlook for the job market in the second quarter can be summed up in one word: hiring. March’s employment report was a letdown, with just 126,000 jobs created, the weakest month for job creation in over a year. Economists were concerned about this setback after sustained growth in the job market since the end of the recession. But other indicators suggest that spring hiring will be very healthy.
A Look at the Stats
Job openings rose 3.4 percent to 5.1 million in February, according to the Labor Department, and it’s a positive sign that businesses have open positions to fill. Layoffs have also decreased and fewer Americans are filing for unemployment.
CareerBuilder’s Q2 2015 U.S. Job Forecast surveyed 2,175 hiring managers and human resources professionals, who had big plans for spring hiring. Highlights include:
• 32% of employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees.
• 37% plan to hire temporary or contract employees this quarter, up from 33% in 2014.
• 31% expect to transition some of their temporary or contract employees into permanent team members, also a marked improvement year-over-year.
With this uptick in hiring, employers will have considerable competition for qualified candidates, and positions remaining open for longer periods. Dice Hiring Indicators reported that the average time to fill a position was 26.8 working days in February, the highest level since they’ve tracked this figure. Having an open position for more than a calendar month means a considerable loss of productivity, and pressure on staff members to temporarily take on additional duties.
If you’re embarking on spring hiring, especially in industries that see seasonal upticks in spring or have high volumes, start early and plan ahead. Enlisting the services of a staffing agency is a great option. Spring is typically very busy for temporary staffing, and in our headquarters city of Portland, Oregon, we’ve seen demand start to pick up even earlier than usual.
Are you ramping up spring hiring?
