Manufacturers Adding Jobs in July

July 2, 2014
Increases in manufacturing hiring is projected to reach four-year highs for the month of July.

Over half of manufacturers (53.2%) will add jobs in July, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment survey, released July 2.

Increases in manufacturing hiring is projected to reach four-year highs for the month of July, reports Theresa Minton-Eversole SHRM editor. The manufacturing sector’s hiring index will rise by 14.8 points compared with July 2013.

“With hiring rates trending up, it makes sense that recruiting difficulty continues.” said Jennifer Schramm, SPHR, manager of SHRM workplace trends and forecasting. "We are also finally seeing a slight improvement in the new-hire compensation index.”

Survey findings include:

  • A net total of 22.1% of manufacturers reported increases in exempt vacancies in June (30.9% reported more vacancies, 8.8% reported fewer), up 1 point from June 2013.
  • A net total of 28.1% of manufacturers reported an increase in nonexempt vacancies -- a rise of 3.2 points compared with June 2013 and a four-year high for the month in the sector.
  • A net of 25.9% of manufacturing respondents reported having more difficulty with recruiting in June, an increase of 12.1 points from June 2013.

Pay has also increased for new hires compared with a year ago according to Schramm.

In the manufacturing sector, a net total of 10.9% of respondents reported increasing new-hire compensation in June, an increase of 3.2 points from June 2013.

“SHRM’s latest Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement survey report shows that compensation is now employees’ number one job satisfaction factor, and employers may be starting to experience pressure to bring wages up in response to a more competitive recruiting environment,” explained Schramm.

Overall, however, the index’s data show that most organizations are not increasing new-hire compensation. This is consistent with recent BLS findings on real average hourly earnings, which fell 0.1% in May 2014 compared with May 2013.