Survey finds dark picture for hiring in Toledo area

12/9/2008

Hiring in the Toledo area will be weak in the first three months of next year and job cuts will be widespread, a new survey shows.

Eleven percent of employers expect to hire in the January-March period and 19 percent anticipate cutting jobs, Manpower Inc. found in its survey released yesterday. That compares with 20 percent that expected to hire and 20 percent to trim in the same period a year ago.

Nationally, the survey of 31,800 companies found 16 percent predict adding workers and 13 foresee reducing jobs.

"The large number of employers that plan to sit on the sidelines in terms of hiring suggests that, while they may not be adding large numbers of workers, they recognize that having available talent is critical to business success," said Jonas Prising, president of Manpower North America.

The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that U.S. employers cut 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, and the unemployment rate hit 6.7 percent, the highest since 1993.

Globally, Manpower found, employers expect to slow hiring in the first quarter of next year.