Benefits April 1, 2003

Employees, HR Professionals See Job Market Recovery Ahead

April 1, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The majority of both HR professionals and employees felt that the job market would remain about the same over the next six months and improve in the next 12 months.
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Sixty-six percent of HR professionals and 45% of employees indicated the job market would remain about the same over the next six months and improve (61% of HR professionals and 56% of employees) in the next 12 months. The long-term economic forecast calls for plenty of sunshine too, with nearly two-thirds of human resource professionals and employees anticipating the economy will improve in the next year, according to the new Job Opportunities Survey, jointly conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com.

Laying-Off the Layoffs

Respondents also expected a decrease in layoffs. About half (48%) of HR professionals reported that their organizations had conducted layoffs in 2002, but the number dropped significantly to 27% of HR professionals who expect to conduct layoffs in the next six months. Replacing the reduction in workers could be a hiring trend. The data showed 32% of the 664 HR professionals surveyed expect increases in hiring over the next six months and 47% expect increases in the next 12 months.

Unfortunately, the layoff situation was disheartening among the job seekers. One-third of the 360 employees surveyed were laid off in 2002, and of those who remain employed, nearly half expected to see layoffs at their company in the next 12 months. Most likely to have experienced a layoff in 2002 were:

  • high tech (66%)
  • manufacturing (63%)
  • insurance (56%)

The industries most likely to expect layoffs in the next six months include:

  • insurance (34%)
  • wholesale/retail trade (33%)
  • high tech (32%)
  • manufacturing (32%)

However, none of the respondents expect to see more layoffs this year than last year.

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