Challenger: HR Execs Mostly Optimistic About 2003

June 24, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Six out of 10 human resources officials polled at a national industry conference don't expect their employer to announce job cuts throughout the rest of this year.

A like number (61%) of the HR officials responding to the survey by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said they expect to pay employee bonuses in 2003. Challenger conducted the survey this week at the current Annual Conference and Exposition of the Society for Human Resource Management being held in Orlando.

In addition to bonuses, the Challenger survey also found that 95% of employers plan to give pay raises in 2003 with 80% of those polled saying increases would be 2% to 5%.

While things are looking up for workers already on payrolls, the outlook was less than enthusiastic for the nation¹s unemployed. Only 23% of HR executives were confident of a job market rebound by the end of 2003.

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