Survey says: Hiring expected to remain strong in Lee County for rest of 2019
Hiring is expected to remain strong in Lee County in the fourth quarter, spurred in large part by the arrival of the busy season.
Survey says: Hiring expected to remain strong in Lee County for rest of 2019 Hiring is expected to remain strong in Lee County in the fourth quarter, spurred in large part by the arrival of the busy season. Check out this story on news-press.com: https://www.news-press.com/story/money/companies/2019/09/10/survey-says-hiring-remain-brisk-lee-county-q-4/2267458001/
Laura Layden, Fort Myers News-Press Published 11:55 a.m. ET Sept. 10, 2019
Traditionally, the busy season runs from November to April in Southwest Florida, bringing in flocks of winter residents and tourists looking to escape the snow storms and frigid weather up north.
For the months of October to December, hiring is expected to be brisker in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area, or Lee County, than in the third quarter, with 26% of employers planning to add workers.
That's according to the latest survey by the ManpowerGroup, a global workforce solutions company.
CareerSource Southwest Florida launched its first Fall Hiring Event Thursday, October 18, 2018 on the Fort Myers campus of Florida SouthWestern State College. Just over Seventy-five local employers with hundreds of positions to fill attended the one-day event. (Photo: Andrea Melendez/The News-Press/USA Today)
The number of Lee County employers planning to hire in the upcoming quarter is offset by the 6% that expect to reduce their payrolls, giving the area a net employment outlook of 20%.
That compares to a net outlook of 9% in the third quarter — and 24% a year ago, when more hiring managers expected their payrolls to pick up, rather than slow down.
Manpower no longer surveys employers in the Naples area, or Collier County.
In case you missed it: Manpower Survey: Hiring pace in Lee County expected to be among the strongest in the nation for the first quarter
More: Naples, Cape Coral-Fort Myers rank high for job growth in new study
Columbus tops list
In the latest survey, Columbus, Ohio, ranked first, with a robust employment outlook of 31% for the fourth quarter.
Strong job gains are also expected in Richmond, Virginia (+29%), Greensboro, North Carolina (+28%) and Provo, Utah (28%).
As for states, employers in Nevada and Utah reported the strongest outlook for the quarter nationwide (25%). They were followed closely by Kansas and North Carolina (24%).
Nationally, employers reported an employment outlook of 20%. The last time the survey had a fourth-quarter outlook so high was in 2006.
The survey results are based on interviews with more than 11,500 employers in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. That includes the largest 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas based on the number of businesses they have in their own backyard.
Across the United States, the most positive outlook came from employers in the leisure and hospitality sector (27%), as consumers continue to spend their money on travel, entertainment and food.
On the flip side, nationally employers in financial activities are reporting their weakest employment outlook in two years (13%). This sector includes roles in banking, insurance and real estate.
Manufacturing slowing
ManpowerGroup's latest survey results show signs of softening in manufacturing nationwide, with weaker hiring plans over the quarter — and the year.
Employers in the Midwest and western United States demonstrated the most optimism for hiring in the fourth quarter survey.
"We're still in a time of unprecedented opportunity for U.S. workers as there are more open jobs than there are people actively seeking work," said Becky Frankiewicz, president of ManpowerGroup North America, in a news release. "While the global economic landscape is increasingly uncertain, employers still intend to hire across all industries."
Many businesses are staying focused on growth, despite political and economic headwinds, she said.
"We've seen more commit to investing in upskilling their people — that is, teaching them new skills for future jobs — in the last two months than we have in the last two years," Frankiewicz said.
This kind of training will help workers fit with future roles, keeping them "employable for the long-term," she said.
Local prospects
As for Lee County, job prospects appear to be best in the transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, professional and business services, education and health and leisure and hospitality industries, as well as in the government sector.
It's not as rosy of a picture in durable and nondurable goods manufacturing, where employers plan to cut their payrolls.
Job prospects in construction, information, financial activities and other services are expected to remain the same in the area through the end of the year.
Joshua Thiessen of Fort Myers, shakes hands with Karen Celec, Nursing Support Recruiter with Lee Health, after talking to her about job opportunities. Thiessen just moved back to Fort Myers and was looking for a steady job. Celec said they have over 600 positions open. CareerSource Southwest Florida launched its first Fall Hiring Event Thursday, October 18, 2018 on the Fort Myers campus of Florida SouthWestern State College. Just over Seventy-five local employers with hundreds of positions to fill attended the one-day event. (Photo: Andrea Melendez/The News-Press/USA Today)
Cape Coral-Fort Myers remains a leader among Metropolitan Statistical Areas in growing jobs, as people continue to move to Southwest Florida, driving up the demand for workers in a variety of sectors, from retail to health care, said Jim Wall, communications director for CareerSource Southwest Florida.
CareerSource matches job seekers with employers in the region. The new jobs employers add in the fourth quarter will only make his agency's mission more challenging, Wall said.
"Given the fact that the Census Bureau is gearing up for the 2020 Census, it will only put additional stress on an already tight labor market and increase competition for seasonal workers," he said.
More: The U.S. Census Bureau is hiring in Collier and Lee counties. Here's how to apply.
The fact that job prospects in construction are expected to remain the same in Lee County in the fourth quarter, Wall said, "might indicate an over saturation in the housing market."
The construction industry has added thousands of jobs across the five-county region since rebounding from the Great Recession.
Not a surprise
Christopher Westley, director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University in south Fort Myers, said the latest survey results for Lee County didn't really surprise him, with employment remaining so seasonal across Southwest Florida.
Hiring usually begins to ramp up in October and remains brisk in the first quarter that follows.
In fact, it's very typical for Cape Coral-Fort Myers to lead the country in the hiring outlook for the first quarter, with the busy season kicking into high gear after the holidays in December, Westley said.
In Southwest Florida, he said, employment is usually at its lowest in July and at its highest in December, driven by seasonal swings in industries such as retail and tourism.
"Retail trade is the largest employer," Westley said.
Hiring continues to be a struggle for many local employers with unemployment so low across the region.
More: Unemployment remains at record lows in Southwest Florida
In July, Lee County's already low jobless rate dipped — hitting 3.4%, down from 3.5% a month earlier, according to the most recent report by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The county added 10,700 jobs over the year in July. It had the fastest annual job growth rate in the state in education and health services (+7.5%).
With such a low jobless rate, Lee County is considered to be at — or near — full employment. So is neighboring Collier County.
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