Hiring plans of CEOs at highest level in 3 years
For job seekers, things may be looking up, according to a survey of chief executives at America’s biggest companies.
The Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs at big U.S. companies, said Wednesday that 39% of those surveyed in the second quarter of 2010 expected to increase hiring in the next six months, while 43% anticipated no change. Only 17% reported that jobs would diminish.
The percentage of CEOs who planned to hire is at the highest level since the second quarter of 2007, when it peaked at 42%.
“Our member CEOs plan to continue hiring and expect improved sales,” said Ivan Seidenberg, chairman of the Business Roundtable and chairman and chief executive of Verizon Communications.
Increased hiring may partly be attributed to greater optimism about sales: Seventy-nine percent of chief executives also expected company sales to increase in the second half of 2010, a slight increase from 73% in the first quarter.
Despite tentative plans to bolster their workforces, companies seem more hesitant about growth compared with the first quarter. Half of the CEOs reported no plans to change capital spending, which is investment in factories, machines and other tangible, long-term assets, and 43% expect spending to rise. In the first quarter, 46% of respondents expected capital spending to stay the same and 47% expected spending to rise.
For predictions of the overall economy, the CEOs estimated a 2.7% growth in real gross domestic product, or the measurement of all U.S. goods and services produced when adjusted for inflation. That represents a slight increase from forecasts of 2.3% in March.
The Business Roundtable represents companies with combined annual revenues of almost $6 trillion and more than 12 million employees.
