Philadelphia CFOs Reveal Hiring Plans For Next Six Months

Robert Half Survey Finds 94 Percent of Philadelphia Companies Optimistic About Business Growth

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Sep 07, 2016, 08:00 ET

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The just-released Philadelphia Professional Employment Forecast from Robert Half shows 12 percent of local CFOs expect their company to create new jobs in the next six months. Another 73 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:

Philadelphia CFOs Reveal Hiring Plans For Next Six Months

	Sept. 2016 – Feb. 2017	March 2016 – Aug. 2016
Expanding – adding new positions	12%	13%
Maintaining – only filling vacated positions	73%	70%
Freezing – not filling vacated positions or creating new ones	12%	11%
Reducing – eliminating positions	3%	5%
Don't know/no answer	0%	1%

View an infographic featuring the survey results.

Recruiting Challenges
Sixty percent of Philadelphia CFOs surveyed said it's somewhat or very challenging to find skilled candidates for professional-level positions today.

Philadelphia executives (39 percent) also cited maintaining employee morale and productivity as an additional challenge when hiring and managing staff.

"Demand for highly skilled professionals in Philadelphia remains strong, particularly in the manufacturing, nonprofit and healthcare sectors," said Stephanie Naznitsky, regional vice president for Robert Half in Philadelphia. "Companies are experiencing recruiting challenges, which means they need to be ready to make competitive offers to the top quickly, especially when filling jobs that require specialized expertise."

Business Confidence
According to the Professional Employment Forecast, Philadelphia CFOs are optimistic about their company's growth. Ninety-four percent of executives reported being somewhat or very confident in their company's prospects in the next six months, up one point from six months ago.

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 Philadelphia 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/philadelphia.

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SOURCE Robert Half