Hiring Forecast Less Rosy Than In 2012, But Still Positive

The latest Wisconsin hiring forecast from Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup shows a positive outlook, but less so than from a year ago.

Manpower says nationally, 22 percent of employers plan to add workers this fall. That’s the highest number in four years. The temporary services firm says 24 percent of Wisconsin employers say they will hire, but that’s down from a year ago, dropping the state’s net hiring outlook by a couple points.

Chris Layden of Manpower’s Experis division says the biggest percentage -70 percent – plan no staff changes.

“They’re still cautious. They’re experiencing a new normal in terms of the volatility in the market, especially in Europe. They’ve got margin pressure still, and so I think they’re still continuing to look for consistent demand for products and services. As they see that demand over a sustained period of time, we’re going to continue to see healthy forecasts of hiring.”

Layden says most of the industry sectors in Wisconsin predict they will add workers, except for education and health services. Hiring in the population-dense Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis region should be slightly above the statewide average.