60% of Salt Lake firms plan to add staff

Salt Lake area employers say they expect to hire at a good clip during the second quarter of 2007, according to the latest Employment Outlook Survey from Manpower Inc.

Sixty percent of Salt Lake companies interviewed by Manpower say they plan to hire more employees during the quarter ending in June, the survey said. Forty percent said they didn't expect to make any changes. None of the businesses surveyed said they expected staff reductions.

Among markets surveyed by the staffing agency, Manpower reported that the Salt Lake employment outlook is the fourth strongest in the nation.

"The demand is still there," said Bob Katz, Manpower's Utah spokesman. "I think the supply of people is easing up a bit, but the demand is stronger than I thought it was going to be. I mean, 60 percent is the highest it's been in Salt Lake City in a long, long time."

Statewide, Manpower reported that 48 percent of employers surveyed expected to add to their rosters during the second quarter. The same percentage expected to keep current staffing levels, while 4 percent expected to make cutbacks.

Utah's results were far more optimistic than Manpower's national survey, which found that 28 percent of U.S. employers expected to hire more workers during the second quarter, while 7 percent expected to cut staff levels. About 59 percent of respondents said they would keep current levels, the agency reported, while 6 percent said they're undecided about hiring plans.

In Ogden, 47 percent of survey participants said they planned to hire new workers, while 7 percent said they would probably have to trim their rosters. Forty-six percent said they would maintain their current staffing levels.

Orem businesses reported dimmer expectations, with 37 percent of participants expecting to bring on new workers and 7 percent planning cuts. The remainder expected to preserve the status quo.

"The other two markets — the Orem and Ogden areas — they came in closer to what I thought the Salt Lake market would be," Katz said. "I think (the Orem and Ogden results) are a sign of a bit of moderation from past surveys. But there's still fairly strong demand and not much in the way of people reducing their staffs significantly. ... They still show strong demand for employees, and the only thing that will moderate it is the number of employees available."

The best job prospects are in the mining; construction; manufacturing; transpor- tation and utilities; trade; finance, insurance and real estate; education; services; and public administration fields, Manpower said.

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