US companies say hiring on hold for winter 2009

U.S. employers were less optimistic about future hiring plans than a year ago but more optimistic than their overseas counterparts, according to a recent survey.

Two-thirds of U.S. employers planned no changes in hiring in the first three months of 2009, according to a survey of from Manpower Inc., a staffing company, up from 60 percent at the same time last year and 59 percent in the previous quarter.

Manpower polled about 71,000 private and public employers in 32 countries and Hong Kong in October and compared outlooks for the next three months with those in the previous three-month period and a year ago, with 31,800 U.S. employers participating.

The net employment outlook for the U.S. - the proportion of employers who see an uptick in hiring minus those who plan to decrease staffing - was 10 percent for the first quarter of next year, adjusted for seasonal variations, down from 17 percent at the same time last year and up slightly from 9 percent in the previous three-month period.

"The global employment picture for the first quarter of the New Year is noticeably weaker, and the vast majority of employers are telling us that they will take a 'wait and see' approach before hiring or further reducing staff," said Jeffrey Joerres, chief executive of Manpower "Interestingly, the number of U.S. companies planning no change in their hiring intentions is considerably higher than during the 2001 recession. This may suggest a much needed pause in downsizing in the first quarter."

Outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said U.S. employers have cut 1.1 million jobs this year, with November's layoffs the biggest monthly amount since January 2002.

The Department of Labor said unemployment rose to 15-year high of 6.7 percent in November.

Only the U.S., Canada and Switzerland showed improvement in hiring forecasts compared with the previous quarter. Out of the 33 countries and territories surveyed, 25 reported their hiring forecasts for the coming three months declined.

In 21 countries, companies reported their weakest hiring plans since the country's participation in the survey.

Singapore, Spain, Ireland and Italy were the least optimistic about hiring.

"Employers in the Asia Pacific region, who last quarter were only starting to feel the impact of the downturn in the West, appear to be preparing themselves for a very difficult year," Joerres said. "The Net Employment Outlooks from Singapore, India, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand are the weakest they have ever been and are in stark contrast to just one year ago when these markets were dealing with chronic and widespread talent shortages."

In the U.S., mining and professional and business services were the most likely to add more staff, while manufacturers and the transportation and utilities sector said they were most likely to decrease hiring.

The city with the highest new employment outlook was Lafayette, La., while Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y., Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., Springfield, Ill., and the Los Angeles metropolitan area were among the weakest.

The U.S. survey had a margin of error of 0.55 percentage points.