SHRM: April LINE Report

According to the SHRM Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) Report for April 2012, the rate of job growth will fall short of levels reached last year, yet hiring in the manufacturing and service sectors will continue in April.  

                April will be another strong month for manufacturing hiring in April. While 43.3 percent of manufacturers will add positions in April, only 20.1 percent of service sector companies will hire employees. Although both industries are hiring, compared to April 2011, the hiring index will fall in April 2012 by a net of 5.2 points. Service-sector industries will cut jobs at three times more than the rate of April 2011.

                In March, recruiting difficulty rose by 8.1 points in the manufacturing sector and 4.8 points in the service sector. More HR professionals in both sectors reported difficulty in recruiting compared to March 2011. In addition, service sector employers reported a rise in job openings in March compared with a year ago, while the reverse was true for the manufacturing industry.  

The LINE Employment Report examines four key areas: employers’ hiring expectations, new-hire compensation, difficulty in recruiting top-level talent and job vacancies. It is based on a monthly survey of private-sector human resource professionals at more than 500 manufacturing and 500 service-sector companies. Together, these two sectors employ more than 90 percent of the nation’s private-sector workers.

To read the full Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) Survey report, click here.