One-third of Oregon employers plan to hire

One out of three private-sector employers in Oregon expect to hire workers over the next six
months, and 11 percent expect to increase their total number of workers over that period, according to results from the third future hiring survey by the Oregon Employment Department. The six-month period runs approximately through May 2012.

Employers who plan to hire will most likely do so to replace workers leaving due to routine turnover over the next six months. This means that while one-third of employers plan to hire, in many cases their overall level of employment will not change. Poor economic conditions were the most common reason given from employers not hiring, and employer outlooks and expectations were unchanged from fall 2010.
Employers in Central Oregon and the Columbia Gorge were the most likely to indicate some
type of hiring would occur (38%) and firms in Southern Oregon were the least likely to share
that sentiment (30%). Overall, hiring expectations were similar throughout all regions of the
state: between 30 and 40 percent of employers plan to hire within six months. Larger
employers were more likely to expect near-term hiring, as 69 percent of employers with at least 50 employees reported plans to pick up new staff within six months. Only 31 percent of
employers with fewer than 50 employees plan to hire in the near term. In Oregon, businesses
with fewer than 50 employees outnumber larger employers 23 to 1.

Read more about our future hiring findings in the full news release. Questions? Contact our senior analyst, Charlie Johnson.