Employers in Maine expect to hire at a strong pace starting in April, making the state’s employment outlook the fourth best in the nation, a new survey found.
From April to June, 31 percent of companies said they plan to hire more employees, according to the quarterly ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey released Tuesday. The report does not give the exact numbers of employees to be hired.
Only 2 percent said they expect to cut payroll and 65 percent will maintain their current workforce. Another 2 percent aren’t sure of their plans, the survey found.
“Hiring intentions are stronger compared to the first quarter,” ManpowerGroup spokesperson April Clark said. “The hiring pace is expected to pick up compared to one year ago.”
In the first quarter of this year, 22 percent of Maine employers said they would increase staff levels, while 8 percent said they would decrease them. In that same quarter of 2017, 25 percent said they would be hiring, while 2 percent they would cut staff.
Nationwide, 23 percent of employers expect to increase payroll in the second quarter of this year, while 3 percent expect to decrease it and 73 percent will stay the same. That’s the second-strongest employment outlook in the past decade, ManpowerGroup said.
Only Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Alaska outperformed Maine in expected hiring in the second quarter.
Construction, durable goods manufacturing, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, financial activities, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and other services have the best job prospects starting in April.
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