By Ana Martinez-Ortiz
This past week ManpowerGroup released the results to their Employment Outlook Surveys. The results examined the likelihood of employers deciding to grow their number of employees in the upcoming quarter.
The survey, which is carried out quarterly, engages with employers across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Roughly 11,500 companies respond and participate in the survey.
According to the results, “Employers in Wisconsin expect to hire at a vigorous pace during Quarter 2.” Milwaukee, Waukesha and West Allis were among the locations expected to have an increase in employment.
The information and results pertaining to the nation as a whole were released a week prior and summarized the potential employment across the country. With the unemployment rate at 4% in the country and 3% in Wisconsin, the data found, Wisconsin’s “area outlook employment is the second best in the nation.”
To compare, a year ago in Wisconsin, 24% of companies surveyed stated that they would increase staff levels, 2% said they would decrease and 71% planned to maintain their staff levels.
This year’s results show that 32% of companies plan to increase staff levels, 2% still plan to decrease and only 65% expect to maintain their current staff levels. In the Milwaukee, Waukesha and West Allis results, the possibility for an increase in staff levels jumped 6% compared to last quarter with the results stating 30%.
While understanding the potential for employment is key to this survey, it’s as important to know what sector the jobs are located in.
According to the results, the following jobs in Milwaukee, Waukesha and West Allis plan to grow the number of employees. The jobs fall under one of these categories: Construction, Durable Goods Manufacturing, Nondurable Goods Manufacturing, Transportation & Utilities, Wholesale & Retail Trade, Financial Activities, Professional & Business Services, Education & Health Services, Leisure & Hospitality and Government.
According to ManpowerGroup spokesperson, Amber Laurent, there will be an increase in construction and manufacturing especially.
While there are a variety of options to choose from depending on one’s skill set, and other capabilities Laurent said there are some things people should consider.
Those who are seeking employment should consider updating their resumes and practicing their interviewing skills. She recommended that people also consider their technological skills as many employers plan to incorporate technology into the workplace.
She also said, employers are seeking for higher skilled employees to replace older retirees and those who are already employed should examine their options.
“They have a lot of options available to them,” Laurent said.
Like potential employees, actual employees should evaluate their technological skillset, as it is more likely that an employer will choose to train an existing workforce rather than hire a new one.
According to the report, and later emphasized by Laurent, 46% of employers are experiencing “talent shortages.” In other words, their lacking employees who contain both the hard and soft skills necessary for the job.
While ManpowerGroup does not conduct surveys to see if the employers followed through with what was predicted, other organizations will be releasing those results. The next ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey report is expected to be released July 12, 2018 and will reflect the results for Quarter 3.