Human resource professionals are showing increased faith in the job market for the third quarter of 2009, although many are still having difficulty pinpointing their hiring plans, according to the Labor Market Outlook (LMO) survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Highlights of the full online report are below:
- A total of 37% of respondents have some level of concern for the U.S. job market in the third quarter: 33% are somewhat pessimistic about job growth and anticipate job losses, and another 4% are very pessimistic and anticipate job cuts during the quarter. This marks a major reversal from the LMO’s second quarter survey, when a combined 70% of respondents expressed some level of pessimism and predicted deeper cuts in the U.S. job market.
- A total of 69% of respondents will either eliminate jobs or keep their payrolls flat in the third quarter of 2009 (56% will maintain current staffing levels, 13% will cut jobs). Among employer categories, 28% of large companies (those with 500 or more employees) will conduct layoffs in the third quarter.
- A total of 81% of respondents either cut jobs or kept payrolls flat in the second quarter of 2009 (43% maintained staffing levels, 38% conducted layoffs). This marks a slight improvement in hiring activity from the first quarter of 2009, when a combined 84% of respondents either cut jobs or kept payrolls flat (45% maintained staffing levels, 39% decreased staff).
Perception matters, so consider this SHRM research a sliver of good news.
