The euro currency continued sinking this week, falling to the lowest price since 2010.FORT WAYNE – Two weeks after the state released figures that show Indiana leading the nation in employment growth, a well-known jobs poll today also suggests Hoosiers are headed in the right direction.
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey said companies in Indiana expect to hire at a “healthy pace” during the third quarter.
“From July to September, 20 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 9 percent expect to reduce their payrolls,” said Mary Ann Lasky, a Manpower spokeswoman.
“Another 68 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels, and 3 percent are not certain of their hiring plans. This yields a net employment outlook of 11 percent.”
Manpower said of the 18,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 18 percent likely will increase staff levels during the third quarter, while 8 percent may reduce payrolls, resulting in a net employment outlook of 10 percent.
Manpower said prosperity in the third quarter will come in several areas, including construction, manufacturing, transportation and utilities, and wholesale and retail trade.
Other fields are financial services, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality and government.
Despite those prospects, Manpower administrators realize that like the rest of the country, Indiana faces an uphill battle.
“It is pretty encouraging,” but issues with sustainability and employers’ reluctance to hire in the face of a slow economy pose problems, said Joel Daas, area manager for Manpower in Fort Wayne.
To test the waters, businesses are hiring “full-time contingent” employees, which means if consumer demand decreases, they’re out of a job.
“We’re still not seeing full-fledged hiring” in many areas, Daas said.
An Indiana Department of Workforce Development report on May 21, however, said Indiana has added nearly 42,000 positions since the year began.
Even after a disappointing Memorial Day weekend, Carmike Cinemas staff hopes for a successful summer.
“That would be nice,” said Mike Riggs, manager of the complex.
Riggs said he hired more workers than usual in anticipation of big box office receipts.
