Hiring expectations among Wisconsin employers have fallen dramatically in the latest Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce survey.
WMC yesterday announced results from the organization’s latest Wisconsin Employer Survey, conducted online and through the mail in late June. Forty-nine percent of respondents expect to add employees over the next six months, compared to 68 percent at this time last year and 79 percent in the summer 2021 survey.
At the same time, 75 percent of respondents said they’re struggling to hire, which has fallen from 85 percent in the previous survey conducted about six months ago.
“While certain sectors remain strong, we are starting to see signs that the economy is slowing,” WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer said in a statement on the results. “The effects of rising interest rates and higher prices are starting to take their toll on both businesses and workers.”
He noted uncertainty about the economic outlook at the state and national level has led to businesses being less likely to hire workers or raise wages rapidly. While nearly half of respondents last year said they would raise wages by more than 4 percent, that number was 21 percent in the latest survey.
Meanwhile, respondents’ views on the strength of the state and national economy are largely unchanged from the past survey, WMC says. While 39 percent say Wisconsin’s economy is strong, 54 percent say it’s moderate and 8 percent say it’s weak. By comparison, those numbers are 16 percent, 59 percent and 25 percent for the U.S. economy, respectively.
The survey included 170 businesses that WMC says make up a representative sample of its membership.
See the full results: https://www.wmc.org/press-releases/hiring-wage-growth-slows-in-latest-wisconsin-employer-survey/