ManpowerGroup’s net employment outlook for metro Milwaukee heading into the fourth quarter of 2020 is 9%, the same level the quarterly survey was at heading into the third quarter.
The reading comes from subtracting the percentage of employers expecting to cut staff from those expecting to increase. The workforce solutions giant regularly surveys thousands of employers around the world on their hiring plans.
In the most recent survey, 16% of metro Milwaukee employers plan to add staff compared to 7% planning to cut. Heading into the third quarter, 18% of employers planned to add staff while 9% planned to decrease.
The major changes between the two quarters were not necessarily reflected in the net employment outlook. The percentage of respondents planning to maintain current staffing levels jumped from 62% to 75% while the number unsure about their hiring plans dropped from 11% to 2%.
Hiring prospects are best in nondurable goods manufacturing, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, financial activities, professional and business services and education and health services, according to Manpower.
Metro Milwaukee’s hiring outlook lags behind the Madison and Chicago areas. Madison has a net employment outlook of 14% with 23% of firms planning to increase staffing. In Chicago, 22% of firms plan to increase staffing with a net employment outlook of 16%.
Milwaukee is slightly ahead of Minneapolis-St. Paul, which has an outlook of 8% and 15% of respondents expecting to add staff.
The Midwest as a whole has a 12% net employment outlook for the fourth quarter. The Northeast had the best outlook at 13%, while the South came in at 12% and the West was at 11%.
