Hiring forecast predicts more jobs around Milwaukee

A new jobs survey says hiring should step up in Wisconsin over the next three months.

Milwaukee-based Manpower Incorporated says its third quarter hiring survey shows a projected upswing. Manpower says 26 percent of state employers plan to add workers, five percent forecast layoffs, and about two-thirds foresee no change in staffing. The numbers are slightly better than Manpower’s national forecast. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker campaigned on a promise that employers were waiting for the results of last week’s recall election before going ahead with adding workers. But Manpower Vice President Melanie Holmes says her company’s survey was done well before the election.

Holmes says the Milwaukee-West Allis-Waukesha area plans to hire at a bullish pace in the next quarter, with 31 percent planning to add employees and only two percent expecting layoffs. She says among survey participants, that’s the top hiring forecast in the nation.