National Hiring Outlooks Remain Steady in Q2 with Signs of Softening in Manufacturing and Coastal Regions

- Employers report stable hiring compared to last year and Q1 2020 with a national employment Outlook of +19%

- Hiring intentions are mixed across industries, weakening in 7 and improving in 5 of 12 sectors year-over-year

- Employers in the Midwest plan to hire at the strongest pace in over a decade

- In the South, hiring intentions remain stable year-over-year and weaken slightly in the West and Northeast

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Mar 10, 2020, 00:01 ET

MILWAUKEE, March 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. employers plan to continue hiring at a solid pace in Q2 2020 with an Employment Outlook of +19%, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey (NYSE: MAN).* The survey of more than 11,250 employers** shows positive hiring intentions across all 12 industries with the strongest Outlooks in Q2 reported in Leisure & Hospitality (+28%), Transportation & Utilities (+24%), Wholesale & Retail Trade (+22%) as consumer confidence keeps the economy and the labor market on a solid footing.

Hiring prospects remain strong for employers in Professional & Business Services (+21%) driven by demand for digital skills. The weakest employment Outlook is reported in Nondurable Goods Manufacturing (+12%), down by 5 percentage points year-over-year, reflective of international uncertainty and concerns over trade.

"U.S. consumers are remaining confident and as long as consumers keep spending, our experience tells us that jobs will follow, which is reflected in the steady hiring Outlooks in Q2," said Becky Frankiewicz, President of ManpowerGroup North America. "Like the rest of the world, U.S. employers remain cautious, particularly in manufacturing as trade negotiations continue and hiring intentions soften for the coming quarter. The reality is U.S. employers have added jobs every month since October 2010 and demand continues to outpace the supply of skilled workers. When jobs are plush, it takes more than pay to attract and keep talent. Our research of over 2,000 workers shows the best way to compete in a talent-scare environment is three-fold: offer people flexibility over when and where work gets done, challenging work to learn new skills plus competitive pay."

View the complete Q2 2020 U.S. survey results: ManpowerGroup.US/MEOS

Region	Q2 2020	Quarter-over-Quarter Variation	Year-over-Year Variation
West	18%	-1%	-2%
Midwest	21%	0%	2%
South	21%	-1%	1%
Northeast	17%	-1%	-1%

U.S. Hiring Plans by Industry Sectors, Regions, Metro Areas and States

Employers in all 12 U.S. industry sectors expect to add workers during the upcoming quarter: Leisure & Hospitality (+28%), Transportation & Utilities (+24%), Wholesale & Retail Trade (+22%), Professional & Business Services (+21%), Construction (+20%), Government (+18%), Durable Goods Manufacturing (+16%), Education & Health Services (+17%), Financial Activities (+14%), Information (+13%), Other Services (+12%) and Nondurable Goods Manufacturing (+12%).
The Outlook in the Midwest (+21%) remains at a 19-year high, flat quarter-over-quarter and 2 percentage points higher year-over-year. Hiring intentions in the West (18%), Northeast (17%) and South (21%) all decline by 1 percent quarter over-quarter. In the West and Northeast, the Outlook declines by 1 percentage point compared to a year ago, while employers in the South report an increase of 1 percentage point.
Employers in Alaska (+34%), Maine (+34%), Virginia (+30%) and Wisconsin (+30%) report the strongest Outlooks nationwide. Of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, the strongest job gains are expected in Virginia Beach, Va. (+37%), Madison, Wis., (+35%), Charleston, S.C. (+34%) and Deltona, Fla. (+34%).

Complete results for the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey are available for download at ManpowerGroup.US/MEOS. The Q3 2020 survey will be released June 9, 2020.

*The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity.

**The survey was conducted between January 6 and January 28 before the spread of Covid-19.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing and managing the talent that enables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year, providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower, Experis and Talent Solutions – creates substantial value for candidates and clients across 80 countries and territories and has done so for over 70 years. We are recognized consistently for our diversity - as a best place to work for Women, Inclusion, Equality and Disability and in 2020 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the eleventh year - all confirming our position as the brand of choice for in-demand talent.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup