South Florida’s employers adding workers

Nearly 30% to hire by year’s end

Competition for talent in South Florida continues to heat up.

Of the metro-area employers surveyed by staffing company ManpowerGroup, 27 percent plan to hire more employees from October through December. That’s an increase from the 21 percent that said they planned to hire in the final quarter of 2017, according to a quarterly survey released Tuesday.

Just 4 percent said they plan to reduce payrolls, while 68 percent said they expect to maintain current staffing levels.

“We’re in a good economy,” said Tom Shea, president of Fort Lauderdalebased outplacement firm Right Management Florida/Caribbean, which is part of ManpowerGroup. “Talent is more important than ever, and companies are having a hard time attracting and retaining talent.”

He said “companies have to be on the cutting edge if they’re going to attract and retain employees, and be competitive.” Workers today are moving to new jobs not only for better wages or benefits, but also to invest in their own career development or skills training, he said.

Employers are in a tight labor market, where they have more job openings than there are job candidates. South Florida added nearly 46,000 jobs in July over a year ago, while unemployment rates fell from a year ago, according to Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity.

As a result, there are more opportunities for employees to jump ship and take a new job. That means employers need a constant “flow” of new workers to replace them, Shea said.

Where are the jobs in South Florida’s marketplace?

Manpower says job prospects appear best in construction; manufacturing of fast-moving goods such as food and medications; transportation and utilities; wholesale and retail trade; information; financial activities; professional and business services; education and

health services; leisure and hospitality, other services and government.

Hiring is expected to remain unchanged in manufacturing of durable goods, such as automobiles, which are made to last for a long time.

Statewide, 24 percent of employers — compared with 23 percent a year ago — said they plan to hire more employees. Four percent plan to reduce payrolls, and 71 percent expect no change to staffing levels through year’s end, according to the ManpowerGroup survey.

Of U.S. employers, 22 percent anticipate an increase in staffing levels, while 5 percent expect payrolls to decrease and 71 percent expect no change.

For the quarterly survey, more than 11,500 employers interviews were conducted by Milwaukee, Wis.-based ManpowerGroup throughout 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The margin of error for the data is not greater than plus or minus 3.9 percent, according to ManpowerGroup.

“August marked the 95th month in a row for job growth in the U.S., and we anticipate we’ll hit 99 months by the end of the year,” said Becky Frankiewicz, president of ManpowerGroup North America.

While the labor market is getting back to pre-recession levels, she said, the big difference is that “manufacturing is more advanced, retail has gone online and employers in professional roles need a new combination of digital and soft skills.

“These are not the lowskilled jobs of the past. They are highly skilled technical roles of the future.”