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Portland Business Journal - December 30, 2008 http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/12/29/daily29.html

Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 1:47pm PST

Survey: More employers to hold off on hiring

Portland Business Journal

More employers will take a "wait and see" approach to hiring in 2009, according to a new job forecast by CareerBuilder.com.

Fourteen percent of employers surveyed said they planned to increase full-time permanent employees. That's down from 32 percent who said they would hire in 2008. But 16 percent said they plan to decrease hiring in 2009.

The remainder said they aren't sure, or don't plan to make any changes.

When it comes to part-timers, eight percent said they plan to increase those employees in 2009, down from 21 percent in 2008. However, 14 percent plan to decrease part-timers. The rest expected no change or were unsure.

Eighteen percent of employers in the South and 14 percent of employers in the West plan to add full-time, permanent employees compared to 13 percent in the Midwest and 11 percent in the Northeast.

Employers in the Northeast are projecting one of the largest amounts of staff decreases at 19 percent, followed by 17 percent in the Midwest, 16 percent in the West and 14 percent in the South.

Information technology is still a hot job with 28 percent in that industry expecting to hire, followed by 23 percent in the professional and business services industry.

Other industries hiring include:

• Transportation and utilities – 20 percent
• Sales – 16 percent
• Healthcare – 14 percent
• Financial services – 13 percent
• Retail employers – 7 percent
• Hospitality – 5 percent

The survey also looked at some of the major hiring trends for 2009. They include:

• Increased Salaries – 66 percent will increase salaries for existing employees in 2009, down from 80 percent in 2008.
• Flexible work arrangements – 31 percent of employers say they plan to provide more flexible work arrangements in 2009.
• Green jobs – 13 percent of employers say they plan to add "green jobs" in 2009, compared to one-in-ten who say they added them in 2008.
• Recruitment tools – 23 percent of employers say their overall hiring budgets will decrease for 2009, however, they plan to increase their recruitment spending.
• Retaining retirees – 25 percent report concern over the loss of intellectual capital at their organizations as a large number of baby boomers approach retirement age. As a result, 17 percent said they are likely to rehire retirees from other companies in 2009. Another 12 percent are likely to provide incentives for workers at or approaching retirement age to stay on with the company longer.
• Diversity recruitment – 88 percent report they will be placing the same or greater amount of emphasis on recruiting bilingual candidates in 2009.
• Freelance or contract hiring – 28 percent anticipate hiring freelancers or contractors in 2009.

The survey, which was conducted online, targeted 3,259 hiring managers and human resource professionals between Nov.12 and Dec. 1.

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