Forecast shows drop in local hiring in 1Q

While 80 percent of surveyed companies in Springfield plan to maintain current staff levels, 10 percent said they expect to reduce their payrolls, and 10 percent said they plan to hire.

“The Springfield area employment outlook is significantly softer than the fourth-quarter forecast when 27 percent of the companies interviewed predicted an increase in hiring activity,” Manpower spokesperson Sharon Walker said in a release.

Employers in the already soft manufacturing field said they would either reduce or maintain current staff levels.

Employers in nondurable goods manufacturing said they plan to reduce their staffs, while wholesale/retail and services respondents voiced mixed hiring outlooks. Hiring in construction, durable goods manufacturing, transportation, public utilities, finance, insurance, real estate, education and public administration should remain unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2005.

Nationally, the survey found that 23 percent of responding companies plan to increase their staffs.

The Manpower survey has been conducted quarterly for 40 years in 470 U.S. markets.

Click here for the full story from Jan. 16.