U.S. workers can expect a stable employment environment over the next six months along with an upswing in temporary jobs. In CareerBuilder’s latest national survey, employers indicated that full-time, permanent hiring in the second half of 2013 will mirror that of 2012 while temporary and contract hiring is expected to increase 10 percentage points over last year.
The survey, which was conducted online by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder from May 14 to June 5, 2013, included more than 2,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.
“Companies are adding more employees to keep pace with demand for their products and services, but they’re not rushing into a full-scale expansion of headcount in light of economic headwinds that still linger today,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.
“The projected surge in temporary hiring from July to December is evidence of both a growing confidence in the market and a recession-induced hesitation to immediately place more permanent hires on the books. However, the overall pace of permanent hiring is stronger today in various industries and geographies, and will continue on a path of gradual improvement for the remainder of the year.”
Separate research conducted by Economic Modeling Specialists (EMSI)1, a CareerBuilder company, found that temporary work accounted for 15 percent of all job growth nationally over the last four years, even though the industry makes up roughly two percent of the nation’s workforce. In larger markets, the share of job growth since 2009 is much higher – more than 40 percent of new jobs in cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Milwaukee can be attributed to temporary work.
Looking forward to the next six months of the year, the study conducted by Harris Interactive shows there will be a continued boost in temporary hiring activity as well as hiring for full-time and part-time positions:
44 percent of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees, on par with last year
25 percent plan to hire part-time employees, up from 21 percent last year
31 percent plan to hire temporary or contract workers, up from 21 percent last year
Hot Areas for Hiring
In addition to recruiting for revenue-related functions such as sales and customer service, employers are placing an emphasis on roles involving newer technologies, big data, social media and financial services. In the back half of the year, employers plan to hire in the following areas:
Jobs tied to mobile technology – 16 percent
Jobs tied to cloud technology – 15 percent
Jobs tied to social media – 13 percent
Jobs tied to managing and interpreting big data – 12 percent
Jobs tied to financial regulation – 10 percent
Jobs tied to health informatics – 10 percent
Jobs tied to cyber security – 9 percent
Small Business Hiring
While recruitment activity among small businesses lags that of larger organizations, the number of small businesses planning to hire over the next six months is trending up while the number for larger organizations declined slightly compared to last year. More than half (56 percent) of companies with more than 500 employees expect to add more employees by year end, down from 58 percent in 2012.
50 or fewer employees – 24 percent hiring full-time, permanent employees, up from 21 percent in 2012
250 or fewer employees – 34 percent hiring full-time, permanent employees, up from 31 percent in 2012
500 or fewer employees – 37 percent hiring full-time, permanent employees, up from 34 percent in 2012
Hiring in Metropolitan and Rural Areas
Job creation continues in both big cities and outlying towns. Of employers who are hiring in the second half of 2013, 75 percent said they will be recruiting for positions in large metropolitan areas while 39 percent will be hiring in non-metropolitan, rural areas – similar to last year.
Hiring By Region
Comparing regions, the West remains the most optimistic in terms of hiring plans for the remainder of the year while the Midwest saw the bigger year-over-year percentage increase for employers planning to add full-time, permanent staff:
West – 48 percent hiring full-time, permanent employees, up from 47 percent in 2012
Midwest – 46 percent hiring full-time, permanent employees, up from 40 percent in 2012
Northeast – 43 percent hiring full-time, permanent employees, down from 44 percent in 2012
South – 42 percent hiring full-time, permanent employees, down from 45 percent in 2012
Hiring in Q2 2013
One-third (34 percent) of employers added full-time, permanent headcount in the second quarter, the same as last year. Ten percent decreased headcount while 54 percent made no change to staff levels and 2 percent were unsure.
Hiring in Q3 2013
Looking ahead, 30 percent of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in the third quarter, the same as last year. Nine percent expect to downsize staffs while 56 percent anticipate no changes to headcount and 5 percent are undecided.
EMSI data is collected from more than 90 federal and state sources, such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, and state labor departments. EMSI removes suppressions often found in publically available data and includes proprietors, creating a complete picture of the workforce.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,046 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between May 14 and June 5, 2013 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,046, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.17 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.
