SHRM LINE: Manufacturing, service sector hiring rates to rise in August compared with a year ago

In August 2017 employment will grow at 60.6 percent of manufacturing firms and decline at 8.0 percent. The resulting net increasing index of 52.7 (60.6 - 8.0) suggests faster employment growth in manufacturing than in August 2016 (46.7).

In August 2017 employment levels will grow at 49.2 percent of service-sector firms and decline at 8.6 percent of firms, producing a net increasing index of 40.5 (49.2 – 8.6), which suggests more robust service-sector employment growth than in August 2016 (36.9).

Compared with July of last year, in July 2017 the recruiting difficulty index rose by 11.1 points in the manufacturing sector and 6.8 points in the service sector. The LINE new-hire compensation index suggests firms may be responding to this increased recruiting difficulty by increasing starting wages to attract highly qualified individuals to fill key positions.

In the manufacturing sector, 21.0 percent of firms reported raising new-hire compensation in July 2017 compared with 15.4 percent in July 2016. In the service sector, 25.7 percent of firms reported raising new-hire compensation in July 2017 compared with 15.9 percent in July 2016, with the annual net increase of 11.1 points.

The full report can be found here.