Pacific Staffing - Sacramento Quarterly Employment Trends
Job demand & hiring trends for local companies announced for the 2nd Quarter of 2009

Hiring Trends Flat
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Sacramento’s top employers are not planning to hire anyone for at least the next three months. In the telephone poll of 100 top regional companies in March, hiring demand remains stagnant in April, May and June. Pacific Staffing discovered sixteen percent (16%) of employers also report additional layoffs may be near if the economy doesn’t gain strength soon. All but one of those companies anticipating cuts in the second quarter attribute the continuing weak economy as the primary reason.

Seasonal needs and attrition among the existing workforce will motivate hiring at thirty-three percent (33%) of Sacramento-regional companies in the next Quarter, and another fourteen percent (14%) indicate they are seeking to grow their workforce. Companies expecting to add to their workforce report they are seeking small numbers of specialized engineering, computer/technical and sales backgrounds for specific needs.

Workforce Challenge?
When asked what workplace or human resource challenge companies face in the next three months, eleven percent (11%) report new Federal law and changes in COBRA healthcare rules of most concern. Another seven percent (7%) noted workplace morale, or employee motivation as second quarter challenges

100 Sacramento Regional Top Companies By Industry:
37% are Service, 35% are Manufacturers, 16% are Construction and 12% are Retail

Downturn Defensive Strategies
When asked what measures their company had taken to cope with the economic recession so far; forty-eight percent (48%) of Sacramento companies surveyed say they have utilized layoffs, forty-three percent (43%) reductions in employee hours, nineteen percent (19%) have reduced wages and/ or eliminated management bonuses and seven percent (7%) report closing a company location to save money and reduce the workforce.

Sacramento regional companies polled report they are using hiring freezes, reduction by attrition, 3-day workweeks and voluntary days off without pay as strategic tools to cope with recession and protect their core workforce.

How does this Quarter compare to last quarter, or last year? Find out for yourself, for more information & surveys go to www.pacificstaffing.com.