Next year could bring more local hiring in manufacturing, logistics and business services, according to people watching labor market trends.
However, some recruiters remain concerned about a dearth of skilled workers to fill positions that will be open.
About 23 percent of employers nationally plan to hire full-time, permanent employees next year, which is largely unchanged from a year ago, according to a survey CareerBuilder released Wednesday. However, the survey of more than 3,000 hiring managers and human resource employees said they continue to wait to see how the economy shakes out before ramping up hiring.
“There are certainly signs from what we’re hearing from our customers that there’s hope for the year ahead,” said Paul Shanahan, regional vice president at staffing firm Adecco in Chicago.
Dan Kesic, president of Hammond staffing firm Staff Source, said employment in the automotive industry and warehousing and logistics is poised to improve next year. Improved economic activity at Ford Motor Co. buildings in the Chicago area is part of boosting production volumes of components and finished vehicles within the sector.
“Anyone that’s supplying Ford is doing well right now,” Kesic said. “They’re adding a third shift. What that means is everyone is going to follow that lead.”
In the past 12 months in Indiana, the number of jobs in manufacturing has grown by 1 percent and in construction, 8.1 percent, according to seasonally adjusted data the Indiana Department of Workforce Development released last week. A report released earlier this year from the Center of Workforce Innovations described region employment as growing at a rate of 1.3 percent in 2011, 1.7 percent in 2012 and 1.5 percent in 2013.
Adecco’s Shanahan said employment in professional and business services; education and health services; and trade, transportation and utilities should see improvement in 2012. While the unemployment rate falling at local, state and national levels is a good sign, there still is a significant number of people who remain underemployed or have been without work for long periods of time.
Jeanette Tithof, owner of three Sedona Group locations in the region, said employers will be cautious about hiring in 2012 in light of it being an election year and changes including health care costs and workers’ compensation. Tithof and Staff Source’s Kesic said clients in Lake and Porter counties are expecting to hire people to boost their packaging businesses next year.
Tithof said one thing she sees in the labor market is a desire for diverse talent pools so employers may choose the best candidates. CareerBuilder said in its survey that other employment trends expected in 2012 include compensation becoming more competitive for skilled positions, a rise in voluntary turnover and employers proactively attempting to tackle gaps in skills.
Kesic said a division of Staff Source, CSG, has seen the effect of dealing with people who aren’t able to make it through the hiring process. CSG is a supplier of seating subassemblies to Hammond’s Lear Corp., which sends finished seats to Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant to install in vehicles.
He said a number of people aren’t able to make it through drug screenings and aptitude tests — even if they are able to do the work.
“The auto industry is looking for drug-free, energetic, willing-to-work people that can do anything from assembly to forklift (driving),” Kesic said.