Survey Predicts Strong 3rd-Quarter Hiring

The inability of some companies to find employees they needed earlier this year is leading to the strongest third-quarter hiring plans since 1988, according to a survey from the temporary help firm Manpower Inc. “Much of the present demand is for seasonal workers in such industries as construction and services, but the need for workers is so widespread that there seems to be a carry-over demand caused by the inability of companies to find the people they needed in earlier quarters,” said Mitchell Fromstein, chief executive of Milwaukee-based Manpower. Of the more than 16,000 companies surveyed, 30% said they will be searching for additional workers in the third quarter, up from 28% in the previous quarter. Fromstein said that all regions of the country expressed hiring intentions not surpassed since 1988-89 but that the job outlook was particularly bright in the Midwest.