Houston CFOs Reveal Hiring Plans For Next Six Months

Robert Half Survey Finds 58 Percent of Houston Companies Face Recruiting Challenges

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Sep 07, 2016, 08:10 ET

HOUSTON, Sept. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The just-released Houston Professional Employment Forecast from Robert Half shows 23 percent of Houston CFOs expect their company to create new jobs in the next six months. Another 61 percent plan to hire for open roles.

CFOs were asked, "What are your company's hiring plans for full-time, professional-level employees in the next six months?" Their responses:

	Sept. 2016 – Feb. 2017*	March 2016 – Aug. 2016
Expanding – adding new positions	23%	25%
Maintaining – only filling vacated positions	61%	62%
Freezing – not filling vacated positions or creating new ones	14%	10%
Reducing – eliminating positions	3%	3%
*Responses do not total 100 percent due to rounding.

View an infographic featuring the survey results.

Recruiting Challenges

Fifty-eight percent of Houston CFOs surveyed said it's somewhat or very challenging to find skilled candidates for professional-level positions today.

Houston executives (35 percent) also said finding skilled workers is their greatest staffing challenge.

"The supply of available professionals who have specialized skills and a college degree remains historically low," said Phil Willingham, district president of Robert Half in Houston. "With employers vying to hire these hard-to-find candidates, it's important for them to move efficiently through the hiring process or risk losing top talent to competitors."

Business Confidence

According to the Professional Employment Forecast, Houston CFOs are still optimistic about their company's growth. Ninety-two percent of executives reported being somewhat or very confident in their company's prospects in the next six months.

About the Professional Employment Forecast

The Professional Employment Forecast was developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. The local results reflect a two-period rolling average based on interviews with 200 CFOs from a stratified random sample of companies in the Houston area with 20 or more employees. Executives were asked about their hiring and business outlook, including plans to add professional-level employees in areas such as accounting, finance, human resources, administrative, legal, marketing and information technology.

About Robert Half

Founded in 1948, Robert Half is the world's first and largest specialized staffing firm. The company, based in Menlo Park, California, has more than 340 staffing locations worldwide and offers job search and management tools at roberthalf.com. Additional insights on the latest hiring trends also can be found in the company's just-released 2017 Salary Guides. For more career and management insights, visit roberthalf.com/houston.

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SOURCE Robert Half