Bay Area jobs on the up and up!

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If you didn’t get a chance to enjoy the sunshine today, you can at least enjoy the encouraging job market forecast. A survey released today indicates that hiring rates in the Bay Area are on the up and up.  According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey (MEOS) released by the employment strategy firm Manpower, 19% of Bay Area businesses expect to add more employees in the second quarter of 2010, while 7% are looking to cut their staff. The majority of businesses interviewed (69%) plan to maintain their current staff and payroll levels, and 5% were unsure of their second quarter hiring forecast. Overall, Bay Area businesses have a 12% increase in hiring rates.

This may not seem like a monumental improvement, but it’s certainly encouraging when considering that just one year ago this same survey predicted that 19% of businesses would actually decrease payrolls, and only 15% would look for new workers, an overall 4% loss. 

MEOS interviewed 18,000 businesses, and Bay Area hiring predictions proved better than the national average: 16% of U.S. employers predicted hiring and 8% predicted staff reduction. 

The second quarter report is available in its entirety on the MEOS website.