23% of Area Employers Expect to Add Workers

Hiring plans of Ventura County employers for the first quarter of 1996 are generally upbeat, according to a quarterly study by Manpower Inc.

Of the companies responding to the temporary help firm’s survey, 23% expect to increase their payrolls compared to the current quarter. In contrast, 13% expect cutbacks. The remainder either declined to predict their plans or said staffing would likely be unchanged from January through March.

Despite the bullish response, the county’s job outlook was more promising a year ago, noted Betty Andrews, a Manpower official in Camarillo.

At that time, she said, 27% of employers planned increased hiring while only 7% predicted layoffs.

But the current employment picture appears brighter than three months ago, when 16% of the companies contacted intended to add to their payrolls and 13% expected layoffs.

Employment prospects in the county are most promising in durable goods manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and government work, the report showed.

Cutbacks are expected in nondurable goods manufacturing, transportation and public utilities. Prospects are mixed in health care and other service industries.

Ventura County’s job outlook is slightly brighter than that of California as a whole, according to the study. Statewide, 20% of employers expect increased hiring in the first quarter, while 11% expect decreases.

Nationally, 20% of the companies surveyed said they will increase their staffs in next year’s first quarter while 12% predicted reduced payrolls.

Despite the relatively positive plans, Manpower President Mitchell S. Fromstein said he detected “an undercurrent of uncertainty” among company hiring executives. “Jobs will not be as plentiful as in the past nine months,” he said.