Some 55.6% of manufacturers are planning to hire workers in March, according to a monthly survey released by the Society for Human Resource Management, while only 5.1% will cut jobs.
The net 50.5% of manufacturers who are hiring is the highest level since July 2006, according to SHRM's LINE Employment Report for March 2012. The 50.5% is 4.8 points higher than the 45.7% who were hiring in March 2011.
The LINE survey, which measures employers' hiring expectations, reflects an ongoing trend of manufacturing hiring. In January 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that manufacturers created 50,000 jobs.
Steady hiring is likely driving the continuing rise in recruiting difficulty for the manufacturing sector, said Jennifer Schramm, manager of workplace trends and forecasting at SHRM.
The March 2012 SHRM LINE report shows that during February 2012, a net total of 17.5% of human resource managers in manufacturing said their company experienced recruiting difficulty (21.3% said yes, 3.8% said no). This difficulty with finding qualified workers was 5.9% higher than in February 2011.
Job vacancies in manufacturing increased in February from the year before. Vacancies in hourly jobs increased for a net total of 27.2% of manufacturers, up 8.9% from February 2011. A net total of 16.1% of manufacturers reported increases in salaried job openings, a 0.6% increase from February 2011.
Despite increased hiring in manufacturing, compensation for new hires remained little changed. Only a net total of 6.9% of manufacturing respondents to the SHRM survey reported increasing new-hire compensation in February, a 0.7% increase from Feb. 2011.
See also:
Houston's Hot for Manufacturing Employment
