The new year doesn’t bode well for hiring prospects in Nebraska’s two largest cities. Mike Lynch, spokesman for Manpower Incorporated, says the quarterly survey found employers in Omaha and Lincoln doing some hiring — and some firing.
Lynch says 70-percent of the employers in the Omaha area expect to maintain their current staff levels between January and March. “It looks like employers (in Omaha) expect to do a little bit of hiring,” Lynch said. “For those companies surveyed, 15-percent plan on increasing staff while 13-percent plan on decreasing.”
He says the Lincoln area employment outlook is one of the weakest in the country, with an anticipated four-percent reduction in workers. Lincoln has a negative net job impact, with 11-percent of employers planning to hire with 15-percent planning cuts.
The survey results for Nebraska’s two largest cities echoes the national numbers, as countrywide, about 16-percent of employers plan to increase staff levels during the first three months of 2009, while 13-percent plan reductions.