U.S. Employers Look To Hire At Record Pace But Talent Shortage Remains Above Global Average

- Employers in the U.S. report the highest Q4 hiring prospects of all 43 countries surveyed

- Ongoing talent shortages mean many employers may struggle to translate hiring plans to jobs created - 73% of employers report difficulty filling roles, above the global average of 69%

- IT employers anticipate the strongest sector hiring pace, followed by Financial Services and Transportation & Utilities

News provided by

ManpowerGroup

Sep 14, 2021, 13:12 ET

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Employers in the U.S. report the strongest hiring intentions globally for Q4 according to the latest ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) Employment Outlook Survey of 6,000 employers.

Hiring intentions strengthen by 23 and 34 percentage points from 3Q 2021 and 4Q 2020, respectively.

U.S. Employers Look To Hire At Record Pace But Talent Shortage Remains Above Global Average

KEY FINDINGS

Record hiring intentions: All 12 industry sectors and all 4 regions report their highest hiring outlook since the survey began in 1962.
Hiring intentions highest in Northeast and West: Both regions report the strongest year-on-year improvements (both +51%).
U.S. employers relying on financial incentives to fill talent shortages: This is more than any other country — 42% in the U.S. compared to 31% global average. Other incentives include flexibility in work schedules (38%) and working locations (30%) as well as non-financial benefits, such as additional vacation days (21%).
Barriers to upskilling: As more employers plan to upskill workers, money (22%), time (16%) and access to the right training partners (14%) were cited as the biggest barriers businesses faced.
Technical skills and career coaching key focuses for HR teams: More than a quarter (27%) of employers plan to invest in accelerated upskilling in technical skills for employees, and 24% plan to introduce more career coaching programs in the next six months to overcome the widening talent shortage.

"This is a historic Q4 report as American employers seek to hire to meet a level of demand we haven't seen in decades that we anticipate will continue into 2022," said Becky Frankiewicz, President, ManpowerGroup North America. "Although headwinds including the Delta variant and talent shortages may impact how these intentions translate to jobs created, we are still in a worker's market. Businesses know they have to get creative to attract and retain the best skilled talent. There are more than 10m open jobs in our country and the most forward-thinking employers are building flexibility into roles traditionally seen as in-flexible, demonstrating how their purpose aligns to employee values and putting the health and wellbeing of their workforce above all."

View the complete Q4 2021 U.S. survey results: manpowergroupusa.com/meos

Region	Q4 2021	Quarter-over-Quarter Variation	Year-over-Year Variation
West	51%	+28%	+38%
Midwest	45%	+21%	+29%
South	48%	+22%	+34%
Northeast	51%	+25%	+36%

U.S. Hiring Plans by Industry Sectors and Regions

Employers in all 12 U.S. industry sectors expect to grow payrolls during the next three months: Information (+62%), Financial Activities (58%), Transportation & Utilities (+58%), Construction (+56%), Professional & Business Services (+54%), Wholesale & Retail Trade (+49%), Leisure & Hospitality (+45%), Durable Goods Manufacturing (+43%), Nondurable Goods Manufacturing (+43%), Government (+42%), Other Services (+42%), Education & Health Services (+38%).
Hiring prospects improve in all four U.S. regions when compared with the third quarter of 2021, most notably by 28 percentage points in the West. Northeast employers report an increase of 25 percentage points, while Outlooks are 22 and 21 percentage points stronger in the South and the Midwest, respectively. Employers in all four regions report the strongest hiring intentions since the survey began with the strongest labor markets anticipated in the Northeast and the West, with Outlooks of +51%. In the South the Outlook stands at +48%, and Midwest employers report an Outlook of +45%.

To view complete results for the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, click here. The next survey will be released December 14, 2021, and will report hiring expectations for Q1 2022.

ABOUT THE SURVEY
The Employment Outlook Survey – conducted in July 2021 – is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind, used globally as a key economic indicator. 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. Seasonal adjustments have been applied for countries and territories that have accumulated at least 17 quarters of data, Croatia being the exception. ManpowerGroup intends to add seasonal adjustments to the data for Croatia in the future, as more historical data is compiled.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY
The methodology used to collect the data for the Employment Outlook changed for 14 countries this quarter: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, UK and U.S. Survey responses are now being collected online by Reputation Leaders. Respondents are members of double opt-in online panels and are incentivized to complete the survey. Infocorp carried out the survey via telephone with the remaining 29 countries. The question asked and the respondent profile remains unchanged. Size of organization and sector are standardized across all countries to allow international comparisons.

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 substantially more value for candidates and clients across more than 75 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 2021 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the 12th year - all confirming our position as the brand of choice for in-demand talent.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup