For immediate release: January 2011
Job demand & hiring trends for Sacramento companies in the 1st Quarter of 2011

Growing Trend

Twenty-six percent (26%) of Sacramento’s top regional employers are pessimistic about the economy for the next year. On the flip side, another sixty-two percent (62%) of the people who manage people believe there is reason to be optimistic in 2011. In addition, human resource contacts at the 100 top companies surveyed directly by phone say their firms are likely to add workers through the next year. While some couldn’t answer or didn’t know, sixty-seven percent (67%) were positive about employee expansion when asked if the company would grow its workforce in the next year. As ‘consumer confidence’ spurs the economy, improving economic outlooks are raising ‘employer confidence’ that leads to more hiring. Sacramento’s top companies aren’t going anywhere soon, eighty-nine percent (89%) of the top employers also expect to be occupying the same local address through 2011.

Traditionally the slowest period for hiring in the Sacramento region, fifty-one percent (51%) of companies polled say they will be hiring in the First Quarter of 2011. While thirty-six percent (36%) report more hiring for replacements, or attrition in their existing workforce, thirty-one percent (31%) report hiring motivated by the need for more workers in January, February and March. As economic and market conditions have improved through the year, Pacific Staffing has discovered that Sacramento’s top employers have maintained or increased hiring motivated by the need to expand existing workforces- 20% in Q1, 37% Q2, 35% Q3, 27% Q4 of 2010 and 31% anticipated in Q1 2011.

Three percent (3%) of hiring in Q1 will be motivated by seasonal demands. Six percent (6%) of companies report planned reductions caused by weather-related concerns and continued slow demand for their products or services in the first three months of the New Year.

How does this Quarter compare to last quarter, or last year? Find out for yourself:

Skills Demand

For those seeking employment among the area’s top companies customer service/sales and technical skills are in high demand in the next Quarter. Sacramento employers are also seeking workers with experience in manufacturing, product assembly, warehouse and shipping over the next three months.

Workforce Challenge?

The top challenge ahead for HR pros in the area remain serious concerns about how to manage changes in healthcare benefits and costs relating to new laws. Twenty-three percent (23%) of companies polled report healthcare reform -increasing costs and management of company benefit programs their greatest headache.

100 Sacramento Regional Top Companies By Industry:

  • 37%  Service
  • 33% Manufacturers
  • 20% Construction
  • 10% Retail

================ Next Quarterly Projections: April 2011 =================

Details from this study were shared in the Sacramento Bee in a story titled “Job Front: Sacramento Employers Looking to Hire in 2011, Survey Finds”