Iowans who are hoping to find a new job in the new year might have a good shot, according to the latest quarterly survey of Iowa employers by a national employment agency. Mike Lynch, spokesman for the Manpower office in Des Moines, says the statewide poll covers the time period of January through March of 2010.
Lynch says, “According to those employers surveyed, 13% plan on increasing staff while just 7% plan on decreasing staff, so that’s an improvement from where we were at this point last quarter.”
A year ago, Lynch says the numbers looked a lot better, but they didn’t end up being quite as rosy in actuality as the recession settled in and more employers ended up making cuts than were expected.
“I think we were seeing more optimism then,” Lynch says. “It may have been false optimism but I think we’re feeling fairly good that the numbers we’re seeing for this quarter are a pretty good representation.” A year ago, the forecast called for 21% of employers hiring statewide, with only 5% making reductions. Lynch says only a few of Iowa’s metro areas could be singled out in the latest survey as looking particularly promising for job seekers.
Lynch says the Des Moines and Omaha/Council Bluffs numbers are looking “fairly decent,” along with much of the Midwest. Learn more at: “www.us.manpower.com“.