A survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), called Labor Market Outlook (LMO), shows that hiring conditions going into the fourth quarter of 2009 are positive. Previous LMO surveys this year have been less optimistic, yet the numbers show a brighter future.

The SHRM started the LMO survey in the first quarter of this year to help anticipate hiring trends, due to the recession. The LMO is based on a quarterly survey of more than 400 HR professionals, who are in charge of managing staff issues with their respective companies.

The third quarter survey showed that 47 percent of the HR employees said their company would keep payrolls flat. 24 percent of the respondents stated that their company would increase staff, and 30 percent would cut jobs.

Of the one third of employees cut during the third quarter, senior execs retained their jobs more while hourly, temporary, and professionals got the pink slip. Stability, strong core leadership, and low management turnover were reasons behind this trend of cuts.

The fourth quarter survey with more improved numbers projected 59 percent would maintain current payroll levels. While 20 percent said they would hire going into Q4, and only 14 percent would cut jobs.

Jennifer Schramm, manager of forecasting trends with SHRM discusses the numbers, "HR managers are optimistic that the economy is inching towards a recovery but are crafting cautious hiring plans with more aggressive recruitment not expected until 2010"

A closer look at the fourth quarter data shows that publicly owned for profit companies are the most active hirers at 28 percent looking to fill positions. Privately owned companies follow closely behind at 25 percent, nonprofit and government follows behind at 12 and 11 percent.

Dividing the numbers up regionally, HR professionals from all across the country are tightly grouped when it comes to outlook. Here are the percentages of ‘positive forecasts’ for each region:

Northeast Region: 30 percent

Midwest: 27 percent

West: 26 percent

Southeast: 24 percent

The full SHRM LMO report can be found here. More detail is provided concerning demographics and looking at different sectors. Comparisons between the third and fourth quarter are looked at a bit more closely as well.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 8:30 am and is filed under Uncategorized. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About the Author: John is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.