Posted August 31, 2010
Manufacturers wary about hiring
Business leaders in the manufacturing space are pessimistic, with only a third (33%) expecting the U.S. economy to improve in the next six months, according to Grant Thornton's quarterly survey of U.S. business leaders.
The hiring outlook for manufacturing companies is also gloomy – only 37 percent of manufacturing business leaders report that their companies will increase hiring in the next six months. Even though manufacturing business leaders are not optimistic about the U.S. economy, their view of their own businesses is still good, with 77 percent feeling optimistic about their companies' growth over the next six months.
"This is very consistent with the discussions I have had with our clients across the country," said Wally Gruenes, Grant Thornton's national managing partner for Consumer and Industrial Products. "Manufacturers are very optimistic about the factors that they can control, such as their own productivity, the quality of their products and the ability to control internal costs. However, they are pessimistic on matters that they feel are beyond their control. There is a great sense of uncertainty regarding national policy, taxes, union and labor matters, and export and monetary controls to name just a few. As a result, they are very hesitant to increase their staff until some of the uncertainty is resolved in their own minds."
