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December 23, 2004Survey: Firms expect no new hires23 percent will reduce their payrollsByRecord-Eagle business editor TRAVERSE CITY - Most area employers plan to stand pat on hiring more workers in the new year, according to the quarterly job survey from Manpower employment agency. Half of the employers surveyed in the Traverse City area expect no new hirings from January through March, while job prospects are even more conservative in the Cadillac and Petoskey areas, the agency reported. Twenty-seven percent of local companies interviewed anticipate hiring new employees in the first quarter of 2005, while 23 percent will reduce their payrolls. Manpower officials said those hiring projections are down slightly from the fourth quarter of 2004, but up significantly from a year ago at this time. "Employers are ... much more optimistic about hiring than they were a year ago when 10 percent of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely and 37 percent intended to cut back," said Karmin Philp of the Manpower office in Traverse City. In the Cadillac area, 70 percent of employers surveyed expect no new hirings in the next quarter, while 17 percent anticipate hiring workers and 13 percent said they'll cut back. In the Petoskey region, 60 percent expect no change, 20 percent forecast job increases and 17 percent expect cutbacks. Job prospects look best in the areas of durable goods manufacturing, transportation and public utilities, agency officials said. Retailers and construction companies expect to cut back their staffing levels, which are largely seasonal changes. Across Michigan 63 percent of employers surveyed expect to make no changes to their work force in the first quarter of 2005. Twenty percent said they'll increase staff and 11 percent anticipating decreasing their work force.
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