Businesses Pessimistic Over Economy, Employment

Jobs will remain scarce in Ventura County through the end of the year as large companies continue trimming their work forces, according to a business report released Thursday.

In a June survey of 360 local businesses, 35% of companies with more than 100 employees said they decreased the number of workers during the first half of 1993.

And 25% said they planned further cuts in employment by Dec. 31, according to the survey conducted by Ventura County National Bank.

Business leaders continue to be pessimistic about the state of the economy, the report shows. An overwhelming 71% of respondents gave the economic outlook a paltry 3 on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 representing no recovery and 10 representing full recovery. Thirty-one percent of respondents predicted no recovery at all through the end of the year.

The results show that Ventura County remains mired in recession and that business leaders do not expect the picture to improve substantially in the immediate future, said Richard S. Cupp, bank president.

“In particular, the survey suggests that the employment picture in the county may get worse before it gets better,” Cupp said.

About 35,000 Ventura County residents were jobless in August, the most recent state unemployment figures available. Although the 9.2% unemployment figure is slightly lower than that of August, 1992, the local economy remains stubbornly stagnant, economists say.

In the past year, Ventura County lost 3,300 jobs, state figures show.

The economic slowdown’s effect on large companies was demonstrated in March at GTE’s Ventura County headquarters in Thousand Oaks. Executives offered some of the company’s 2,500 Ventura County employees early retirement packages in an effort to reduce payroll costs, spokesman Mike Murray said.

And the telecommunications company plans to lay off an additional 20 workers, Murray said. The pressure to reduce costs comes not only from the stalled economy, but from increased competition and the use of technology that replaces workers, he said.

The company does not expect to add people for several years, Murray said, adding that “I think there will be continued downsizing as we move forward.”

Only mid-sized companies seem to be weathering the economic downturn well, survey results show. Businesses with revenues between $1 million and $5 million not only reported increased sales for the first half of 1993, but said they planned to hire more workers in the second half.

Most of the new jobs are projected for the manufacturing and professional sectors, the report says. About 20% of manufacturing firms said they planned to hire in the remainder of the year, while 10% of professional employers said they would hire new workers.

Employers in agriculture, manufacturing, retailing, real estate, hotels and restaurants based in Ventura County were among those surveyed. Ventura County National Bank conducts the economic surveys twice a year.