Manpower: Some West Michigan Job Markets Pick Up, Rest Of State Lags

It's a tale of two regions when it comes to the job market in Michigan in the third quarter, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Employment is actually expected to pick up a bit in West Michigan markets like Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, while it's still falling elsewhere.

In the Detroit-Warren-Livonia MSA, 13 percent of companies interviewed plan to hire more employees from July to September, while 18 percent plan to reduce their payrolls.  Another 66 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 3 percent are not certain of their hiring plans. That's a net negative 5 percent hiring figure.

“The hiring activity is expected to be consistent to the previous quarter when 12 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 17 percent expected to cut payrolls,” said Manpower spokesman Eric Jones.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in nondurable goods manufacturing, financial activities and leisure & hospitality. Employers in transportation & utilities, information, professional & business services, education & health services and government plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in construction, durable goods manufacturing, wholesale & retail trade and other services is expected to remain unchanged.

In the Ann Arbor MSA, 11 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 18 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 66 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 5 percent are not certain of their hiring plans. That's a net negative 7 percent hiring figure.

“The hiring activity is expected to be lighter than the previous quarter when 12 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 14 percent expected to cut payrolls,” said Manpower spokeswoman Susan Carlson.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in nondurable goods manufacturing, financial activities, leisure & hospitality and other services. Employers in durable goods manufacturing, wholesale & retail trade, information, professional & business services, education & health services and government plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in construction and transportation & utilities is expected to remain unchanged.

In the Flint MSA, 13 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 19 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 61 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 7 percent are not certain of their hiring plans. That's a net negative 6 percent.

“The hiring activity is expected to be consistent to the previous quarter when 9 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 15 percent expected to cut payrolls,” said Manpower spokewoman Stacy Hammer.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in nondurable goods manufacturing, professional & business services, leisure & hospitality, other services and government. Employers in construction, durable goods manufacturing, transportation & utilities, wholesale & retail trade, financial activities and education & health services plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in Information is expected to remain unchanged.

In the Grand Rapids-Wyoming MSA, 14 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 11 percnet expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 69 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 6 percent are not certain of their hiring plans. That's a net positive 3 percent hiring index.

“The hiring activity is expected to be slightly stronger than the previous quarter when 15 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 14 percent expected to cut payrolls,” said Manpower spokeswoman Jill Momber.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in durable goods manufacturing, information, financial activities, professional & business services and other services. Employers in transportation & utilities, wholesale & retail trade and education & health services plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in construction, nondurable goods manufacturing, leisure & hospitality and government is expected to remain unchanged.

In the Holland-Grand Haven MSA, 13 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 14 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 70 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 3 percent are not certain of their hiring plans.

“The hiring activity is expected to be slightly stronger than the previous quarter when 14 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 17 percent expected to cut payrolls,” said Manpower spokewoman Deb Snyder.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in construction, nondurable goods manufacturing and leisure & hospitality. Employers in durable goods manufacturing, transportation & utilities, professional & business services and education & health services plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in wholesale & retail trade, other services and government is expected to remain unchanged.

In the Kalamazoo-Portage MSA, 19 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 12 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 65 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 4 percent are not certain of their hiring plans.

“The hiring activity is expected to be stronger than the previous quarter when 15 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 14 percent expected to cut payrolls,” said Manpower spokeswoman Becky Slager.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in nondurable goods manufacturing, transportation & utilities, wholesale & retail trade, professional & business services, education & health services, leisure & hospitality, other services and government. Employers in construction, durable goods manufacturing and financial activities plan to reduce staffing levels, while hiring in Information is expected to remain unchanged.

Of the more than 28,000 employers surveyed in the United States, 15 percent expect to increase their staff levels during the July-September period, while 13 percent expect to reduce their payrolls, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of 2 percent. Sixty-seven percent expect no change in hiring, and 5 percent are undecided about their Quarter 3 2009 hiring plans.

Employers in two sectors surveyed, education & health services and government, anticipate a slight decrease in hiring compared to three months ago. Employers in durable goods manufacturing; transportation & utilities; information; financial activities; professional & business services; and other services sector employers will keep hiring levels relatively stable for the third quarter.

The West has a weaker Outlook compared to Q2 2009, while all regions have a weaker Outlook compared to one year ago at this time. Employer optimism about hiring is relatively stable in the South, Northeast and Midwest.

More at www.us.manpower.com/meos.