Most Midwest companies plan to maintain current staffing levels and don’t anticipate changes in pay and benefits, according to the latest survey from Brookfield-based
QPS Employment Group.
The survey, conducted in March, found 64% of respondents expect to maintain their current staffing levels, up from 50% in the first quarter. A similar percentage, 65%, expect to maintain current pay and benefit levels.
Roughly a third of respondents are planning to increase both overall staffing and pay and benefits. A limited number expect to make cuts.
“Optimism is up in the second quarter,” said
Ryan Festerling, president and CEO of QPS.
The staffing company has 52 offices across the Midwest and 7,000 associate employees working at over 1,800 different companies.
The survey was sent to current active clients of QPS, and 64 responded.
Festerling noted the increase in companies maintaining staffing levels as a reason for optimism along with a decrease in those expecting weak sales from 22% to 14%.
“Still, companies are not totally optimistic,” he said.
Overall, 48% of respondents expected flat sales in the quarter and 38% expected strong sales.
The economy was the top concern among respondents at 20% followed by finding qualified applicants at 13%.
At the same time, 32% of respondents were optimistic about sales, 16% were most optimistic about workforce stability and 12% were excited about business opportunities.
