SURVEY – Hiring Plans for 2011 Pierce County, WA December 2010

The Workforce Central Business Connection 4650 Steilacoom Blvd, Bldg 19 Lakewood, WA 98499 253-583-8800 www.TheBusinessConnection.net

SURVEY BACKGROUND AND HIGHLIGHTS

The Workforce Central Business Connection’s 2011 Hiring Plans Survey was conducted in November/December 2010.

Pierce County companies that currently use Business Connection recruiting, testing, and training services, and additional area employers, were invited to complete the web-based survey. Projected hiring data was obtained from a total of 137 firms.

While other surveys primarily target national or state data on job-seekers, this survey focuses on reporting results that are specific to employers from all sectors operating in Pierce County. Thus, the survey provides a current snapshot of Pierce County employers only.

Key statistics for 2011 from responding employers in this year’s survey:

37.6% anticipate hiring more FTE’s (2010 results – 22.2%)

21.5% anticipate hiring more PTE’s (2010 results – 16.8%)

32.6% anticipate increasing wages (2010 results – 25.8%)

33.1% plan to implement flexible work arrangements (2010 results – 34.4%)

16.1% plan to hire freelance or contract workers (2010 results – 20.8%)

1.5%

12.4%

15.3%

1.5%

7.3%

2.9%

2.2%

22.6%

0.7%

5.8%

2.9%

3.6%

0.7%

6.6%

13.9%

Please indicate your primary industry category

Association

Construction

Education Services

Financial Activities

Government

Healthcare

Leisure & Hospitality

Manufacturing

Media

Professional & Business Services

Technology

Transportation & Warehousing

Utilities

Wholesale & Retail Trade

Other (please specify)

Other categories identified :

- human services - commercial real estate - petroleum recycling - non-profit - construction, demolition, debris recycle - commercial printing - job training - planning and engineering - shelter - office furniture

- consumer product repairs - tuxedo rental - cold storage - rental - consultant (const. materials testing) - animal service - distribution - auto processor - janitorial office/restroom cleaning

62.5%

9.6%

12.5%14.0%

1.5%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Privately owned for-profit

Publicly owned for-profit

Non-profit Government Other (please specify)

Indicate your sector

71.4%

20.3%

8.3%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

1-99 100-499 500 +

Indicate your staff size

0.7% 0.7%9.5%

0.0%0.0%2.9%

0.7%

9.5%

0.7%

5.1%

0.0%

8.0%

47.4%

3.6%

10.9%

Indicate your location

Bonney Lake

Dupont

Fife

Fircrest

Frederickson

Gig Harbor

Graham

Lakewood

Orting

Puyallup

Steilacoom

Sumner

Tacoma

University Place

Other (please specify)

Other locations identified :

- county & cities - unincorporated Pierce County - Tacoma and Fife - Parkland - Buckley - Fort Lewis - Herron Island - Ft Lewis

- Fife and Kent - Puyallup since November 2010 - Milton - WA & OR - Joint Base Lewis McChord - Eatonville - Milton

37.6%

12.0%

38.3%

12.0%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

Increase Decrease No Change Don't Know

How do you anticipate total FULL TIME employment levels at your location to change in 2011 as compared

to 2010?

Data

The NET outlook* for 2011 FTE hiring stands at 25.6%, a significant increase over the 2010 NET outlook of -0.8%.

Surprise

More firms indicate uncertainty about FTE hiring plans in 2011; 12.0% in 2011 as compared to only 7.9% in 2010.

Observation

With a 26.4% improvement in the NET outlook for FTE hiring, it is apparent that Pierce County employers see enough positive indicators to signal that conditions are right for strategic growth and increased capacity.

* NET outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers who

anticipate increased hiring and subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate decreased hiring in the coming year.

21.5%

11.9%

55.6%

11.1%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Increase Decrease No Change Don't Know

How do you anticipate total PART TIME employment levels at your location to change in 2011 as compared

to 2010?

Data

The NET outlook* for 2011 PTE hiring stands at 9.6%, a slight increase over the 2010 NET outlook of 6.4%.

Surprise

More firms indicate uncertainty about PTE hiring plans in 2011; 11.1% in 2011 as compared to only 6.4% in 2010.

Observation

With a 3.2% improvement in the NET outlook for PTE hiring, it seems that Pierce County employers do not intend to reduce PTE needs despite planned FTE increases, which means overall hiring should increase significantly.

* NET outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers who

anticipate increased hiring and subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate decreased hiring in the coming year.

32.6%

3.0%

48.1%

16.3%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Increase Decrease No Change Don't Know

How do you anticipate salary levels at your location to change in 2011 as compared to 2010?

Data

The NET outlook* for 2011 salary level stands at 29.6%, a signifcant increase over the 2010 NET outlook of 17.7%.

Surprise

More firms indicate uncertainty about FTE hiring plans in 2011; 16.3% in 2011 as compared to only 8.1% in 2010.

Observation

With an 11.9% improvement in the NET outlook for salary levels, employers who have become used to “bargain basement” salaries may begin to lose employees to firms willing to offer more attractive compensation packages.

* NET outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers who

anticipate increasing compensation and subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate decreasing compensation in the coming year.

66.9%

16.1%14.5%

6.5%

2.4%

7.3%

2.4%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

None Alternate scheduling

Telecommuting Compressed workweeks

Summer hours Job sharing Sabbaticals

Indicate which flexible working arrangements you plan to implement in 2011. (select all that apply)

Observation

In 2010, 65.5% of responding employers indicated no intention to employ flexible working arrangements. For 2011, 69.9% indicate no intent to use flexible working arrangements. The modest 4.4% decrease in flexible working arrangement suggests that Pierce County employers are no longer turning to “just get by” strategies.

59.0%

34.0%

48.0%

27.0%25.0% 25.0%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Online recruitment sites

Newspaper classifieds

Online classifieds Career fairs/hiring events

Staffing firms/recruiters

Social networking sites

Indicate which recruitment tools you anticipate using in 2011 to find potential employees. (select all that

apply)

Other locations identified :

- interns and volunteers - WorkSource - WorkForce - local Union hall - we receive resumes daily - we would call people we laid off - newsletters to members - our website

- Labor Ready - networking - word of mouth - Professional associates - employee referrals - walk-ins and referrals - all of the above

Observation

Online resources for recruiting remain the most popular tools for Pierce County employers, while classified advertising is in use by approximately one-third of the regions employers to list the job openings.

16.1%

56.9%

27.0%

Do you anticpate hiring freelance or contract workers in 2011?

Yes

No

Don't Know

Observation

In 2010, 20.8% of responding employers indicated they intended to hire either freelancers or contract workers. For 2011, only 16.1% indicate they intended to hire either freelancers or contract workers. The slight 4.7% decrease may be attributable to conversion of these hires into either FTE or PTE by Pierce County employers, or it may simply be an indicator of less “on call” help required in the coming year.

SUMMARY Survey results suggest significant growth of FTE positions in Pierce County during the coming year, while PTE growth will be moderate. Responses show that employers intend to increase salary levels in 2011. This could indicate employers are beginning to offer more attractive wages to make sure valued employees are not lured away by firms seeking to staff up during the next 12 months. There is little or no anticipated change to the use of flexible working arrangements for 2011; employers that currently use these strategies will likely continue using them and, perhaps, establish them as a standard policy. Overall, the use of freelance and contract workers will diminish slightly. When combined with anticipate FTE growth, it is reasonable to believe than some of the reduction may be caused by freelance/contract transition to employee status. One concern: uncertainty about future hiring plans has increased; twice as many employers indicated they are not sure what they will do in 2011.