NECN.com (02/01/12)

A survey by Professional Staffing Group, the largest staffing firm in Massachusetts, finds that over the next three months, the percentage of employers expecting to increase staffing has gone from 18% to 25%. Three times as many companies plan to hire in the next three months as plan to reduce jobs.

ASA chairman Aaron Green, founder and president of Professional Staffing Group, says that when the economic downturn hit, “companies did three things to reduce their labor costs. First they eliminated the use of temporary employees. Then they laid some employees off. Then they cut back on their full-time staff in terms of hours and in some cases their wages. What we are seeing is sort of a reverse of that effect.” With spending on training and continuing education down, Green says employers are looking for employees “to invest more in their own future.”