47% US cos plan to hire new personnel in Jul-Dec: Survey

Reflecting the better labour market conditions, a significant number of companies in the US plan to recruit new personnel during the remaining part of 2011, with customer service and the IT industry expected to offer the strongest hiring prospects, says a survey.

According to a study by job portal CareerBuilder, 47% of employers surveyed are planning to hire employees in the July to December period of this year, up from 41% in 2010 during the same period.

"Last year, certain sectors or departments in companies were producing jobs. This year, the US is seeing job creation in all industries, functions and company sizes," CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said.

Ferguson further said,"hiring activity will sustain and improve in the months to come with a diverse mix of jobs. While higher energy prices, debt, inflation and other factors may deter a significant acceleration in hiring, employers have encouraging news for the millions of Americans who are looking for jobs".

Recruitment activity would increase by 23% in Customer Service, followed by 21% in Information Technology (IT) and 20% in Sales.

Besides, hiring activity would be at good pace in sectors such as Administrative (15%), Business Development (11%), Accounting/Finance (10%) and Marketing (9%).

Interestingly, half of the employers surveyed said there is a shortage of skills within their organisation, up from 48% last year. The biggest shortages were in the areas of IT, Customer Service and Communications.

Additionally, more than one-third (36%) reported they have positions for which they could not find qualified candidates, up from 32% last year, the survey noted.

Notably, more job openings translate into more competition for highly skilled workers. Employers (35%) are concerned that top performers will look for job opportunities outside of their organisation as the economy improves.

In the July-September quarter, 26% of respondent plan to increase their headcount and eight per cent expect to downsize staff. Another, 61% anticipate no change, while 5% are undecided on the issue.

In contrast, 29% of employers surveyed had added new personnel in the April-June quarter of 2011, up from 24% last year.

Further, 11% decreased headcount, while 59% made no change in staff levels and1% were unsure.

The survey was conducted within the US by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder, among 2,662 hiring managers between May and June.