Job demand & hiring trends for local companies in the 1st Quarter of 2012

New Year Cheer in Rising Trends?
Hiring in Sacramento will begin the New Year on an upward trend, as Pacific Staffing has discovered fifty-eight percent (58%) of top companies motivated to hire in Q1 2012. This trend toward local economic recovery maintains a slow rise that began with forty-six percent (46%) hiring at this time in 2010, fifty-one percent (51%) in Q1 2011.

In recession-driven Q1 2009 more than half of Sacramento’s regional employers surveyed weren’t hiring anyone while another twenty percent (20%) planned staff cutbacks and three local companies closed laying off their entire workforces.

In polling the top companies directly by phone between November 21st and December 14th, Pacific Staffing learned that just two companies planned layoffs; one for seasonal reasons with another citing slow business in the First Quarter of the new year.

A positive trend was also evident in demand for new workers in January, February and March. Thirty percent (30%) of employers are motivated to hire for growth in the first months of 2012, maintaining demand levels from the previous quarter, Q4 2011. Another thirty-five percent (35%) reported hiring in Q1 of the new year due to attrition in their existing workforces.

Workforce Challenge?
While benefit cost and management is still a major concern, a new challenge was noted, as companies report finding qualified applicants is becoming an issue. Specific skills in high demand in Q1 include sales and customer service workers, technical, warehouse and manufacturing experience.

Special Report: Got Retirement?
When asked if their company has a retirement plan, thirty-one percent (31%) of companies polled say No.  In addition, twenty-seven percent (27%) also say they have no plan to offer any retirement option in the future.  While many companies did have some retirement plans, most were oriented to employee 401K account options, with just a few offering a contribution match. While some companies couldn’t or wouldn’t answer, Service firms were most likely to offer retirement while Retail industry companies were least likely.

100 Sacramento Regional Top Companies By Industry:

  • 40% are Service
  • 30% are Manufacturers
  • 20% are Construction
  • 10% are Retail

================ Next Quarterly Projections: April 2012 =================

Media contact: Rick Reed 916-704-0080

These results were also shared in the Sacramento Bee.