ACA International (02/14/12)

A new report from the Society for Human Resource Management indicates that more companies plan to hire workers this month than lay them off, though the percentage expecting to add jobs is down 12.3% from last year. On a year-over-year basis, hiring will decrease by a net of 12.3 points in the service sector and a net of 2.5 points in the manufacturing sector. However, the SHRM Leading Indicators of National Employment Report shows that 26.3% of service-sector companies expect to hire workers this month, while only 5.4% are planning layoffs. Meanwhile, 49.1% of manufacturing companies plan to hire workers, and only 8.9% anticipate layoffs.

The recruiting-difficulty index for both sectors rose in January, with 12.2% of human resource managers in the manufacturing sector and 6.8% in the service sector indicating difficulty in recruiting for key positions. The number of firms reporting gains in new-hire compensation was up 1.8 points year-over-year in the manufacturing sector and 5.6 points in the service sector.