Job demand & hiring trends for local companies in the 1st Quarter of 2013
Special Report: HR Economic Outlook for 2013

Sacramento’s top employers are picking up the pace of hiring as fifty-seven percent (57%) say
they are looking for workers in January, February and March of the New Year. In what is
traditionally the slowest hiring period of the year, Q1 2013 by contrast finds thirty-six percent
(36%) of Sacramento’s regional companies surveyed say they are hiring for growth and
increasing their workforce in the Quarter.

While Pacific Staffing learned that many are adding new positions, another thirty-four percent
(34%) seek employees for changes within their workforce, as they are motivated to hire by
attrition. These are significant improvements in the market from regional employment and
economic conditions just three years ago. As Pacific Staffing discovered then, the first three
months of 2009 sent the market crashing with hiring freezes, workforce reductions, furloughs and
shortened workweeks, massive layoffs and companies going out of business as the national
recession hit the area.

That was then. Now human resource contacts surveyed directly by phone are upbeat about the
prospects for continuing economic improvement in 2013. When asked if they are optimistic or
pessimistic about the economy in the New Year, fifty-three percent (53%) were positive, while
just twenty-three percent (23%) were not. While some didn’t answer, eleven percent (11%)
couldn’t decide.

Among the top regional human resource contacts fifty-six percent (56%) of employers surveyed
expected their companies to grow in 2013. Another thirty percent (30%), polled between
November 19th and December 11th, said their firms would not grow in the next twelve months.
Seasonal demand will trim workers at six percent (6%) of Sacramento employers who plan
layoffs in the first three months of 2013.

A common challenge was noted by eighteen percent (18%) of companies who cited new
Affordable Care Act (ACA) changes to healthcare benefits management as their current headache
in the first months of the next year.

Skills Demand?
Nine percent (9%) of employers say they are having difficulty finding information technology
workers, particularly programmers for specific industry needs. Others are seeking maintenance
mechanics for productions lines, customer service/sales, accounting and general office help.

Sacramento Regional Top Companies Polled By Industry:
38% are Service, 33% are Manufacturers, 18% are Construction and 11% are Retail

================ Next Quarterly Projections: April 2013 =================

Media contact: Rick Reed 916-704-0080