Nearly three in ten employers plan to hire seasonal workers this summer, finds CareerBuilder annual forecast

One fifth of those hiring workers for the summer will pay $16 or more per hour

Leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and IT sectors drive summer hiring expectations

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May 16, 2013, 06:00 ET

CHICAGO, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Seasonal hiring expectations this summer mark a continued improvement over the years immediately following the recession, according to CareerBuilder's annual Summer Jobs Forecast. Nearly three in ten employers (29 percent) report they plan to hire seasonal workers this summer. While unchanged from 2012, the number is significantly up from an average of 21 percent from 2008 to 2011.

The nationwide survey—conducted online by Harris Interactive© from February 11 to March 6, 2013— included more than 2,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.

Employers in leisure and hospitality (47 percent), manufacturing (34 percent), information technology (34 percent) and retail (33 percent) are the most likely to hire seasonal help this summer. More than half of all employers (53 percent) will complete their seasonal hiring in May or June.

"The summer forecast shows yet again that although the jobs recovery has been slow, employers are more confident today than they were three or four years ago," said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. "Seasonal work –whether in retail or engineering – is also a good entry point into the labor force for job seekers, as a vast majority of employers – 67 percent – will consider summer hires for permanent positions."

Wages for summer hires and/or interns
Two-thirds (66 percent) of employers will pay their summer hires $10 or more per hour—up from 64 percent in 2012 and 58 percent in 2011:

$7.25-$9.99 – 34 percent
$10.00-$15.99 – 46 percent
$16.00-$19.99 – 11 percent
$20.00 or more – 9 percent

Other in-demand summer jobs
While summer jobs are commonly associated with the retail and hospitality sectors, companies hiring summer workers in 2013 will be offering positions in a variety of support and technical positions:

Office support: 27 percent
Customer service: 22 percent
Information technology: 20 percent
Engineering: 18 percent

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive^© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,184 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between February 11 and March 6, 2013 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,184 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.1 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract great talent. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 50 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and talent and compensation intelligence to recruitment solutions. More than 10,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder's proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact:
Ryan Hunt
[email protected]
773-527-6923
@careerbuilderPR

SOURCE CareerBuilder