Despite the positive economic news that ended 2025, employers are not likely to break hiring records soon. And that insight appears to be true for both local and global employers. According to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook survey based on 39K public and private employers released Dec. 9…

• 40% of employers plan to add staff in the first quarter
• 40% plan to maintain their current workforce levels
• 16% expect to have staff reductions.

Here’s some interesting detail revealed in this survey…

• Hiring slowdowns are likely to be most pronounced among the largest organizations. Employers with 5,000-plus employees reported the weakest outlook for hiring. Midsize companies — those with 250 to 999 employees — reported the most optimistic plans for hiring.
• 37% of the companies who plan to hire are doing so because of organizational growth; 26% because of investments in new products or services.
• Only 19% of the anticipated new hires are set aside as replacement employees suggesting that when a company is faced with a turnover, they look for new ways of getting work done rather than just automatically replacing a departing employee.
• For employers reducing headcount – 29% are doing so because of economic challenges. 24% are doing so because of reduced demand for their products and services. Unlike what’s being widely reported, only 20% of employers anticipating downsizing are attributing layoffs to new forms of automation.
• The most optimistic hiring plans are coming from the finance and insurance sectors, followed by IT, construction, and real estate.

It would seem that employers across the US are responding to the economic signals important to them with a measured and deliberate approach. We’re experiencing the same from our clients locally. Companies still need to hire if they intend to grow, but from our perch they seem much more intentional now than they were 12-18 months ago. We also see our clients hiring patterns putting a priority around positions that are either revenue driving roles or absolutely needed to meet current market demands.