Survey finds area employers conservative on hiring

The percentage of Eastern Iowa companies expecting to hire in the next quarter dropped significantly in Cambridge Staffing's latest survey of 60 employers in the Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Iowa City areas.

The survey found 48 percent of companies planning to hire, a reduction from 65 percent in last quarter's survey. The 50 companies surveyed planned to hire a total of 178 new employees in the next quarter, down from 517 new employees they expected to hire in the last quarterly survey.

The longer-term outlook of the employers also included less hiring. It found 42 percent of the companies expecting to hire in the next 12 months, down from 64 percent in the previous survey. They expected to add 692 new hires in the next year, versus 1,245 new hires that were forecast for the next year in the last quarterly survey.

"The economy is understandably cautious given the deficit, health care uncertainty and high unemployment," said Jan Collins, general manager of Cambridge Staffing. "Couple these concerns with the possibility of a double-dip recession adn the economic outlook is restrained."

The survey found the average hiring wage in the services sector is $11.01 per hour. The manufacturing sector's average hiring wage was $9.51 per hour.

More than nine in ten of the employers surveyed have 300 or fewer employees, and three-fourths of the surveyed companies have no unions representing their workers.

Cambridge Staffing owner Mike Cambridge expressed concern about the roughly 20 percent unemployment rate for younger workers under the age of 21. He said many entry-level-wage jobs are going to workers with more age and experience, raising the question of whether minimum wage and benefit levels are too high.