SHRM Report Forecasts Service Sector Growth in February, Confirming Job Trends on CallCenterCrossing.com

February 16, 2013   |    PDF version

February 16, 2013 — Pasadena, California — In its latest employment report, the Society for Human Resource Management forecasts a 12 percent increase in the February hiring rate for the service industry, compared with a year ago. Of those surveyed, 33.1 percent of service-sector employers intend to hire this month. The survey reflected current employment trends on CallCenterCrossing.com.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released its monthly employment report, which tracks employment and hiring trends in the manufacturing and service-sector industries. The Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey tracks employers’ hiring expectations, new-hire compensation, difficulty in recruiting top talent, and the number of job vacancies. Based on the results from the 500 service-sector employers surveyed, the SHRM predicted a 12 point jump in hiring this month, compared to February 2012. In sum, 33.1 percent of service-sector employers anticipated expanding employment this month. The SHRM survey has been used as an early forecast of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The strong hiring anticipated for this month reflects the current employment trends on CallCenterCrossing.com, a leading job site for customer service and support-based jobs. As of the time of this release, the site listed 1,606 openings in customer service, with nearly a quarter of those positions being in management. Professional and support service hiring has slowly trended upward over the past few months as employers have begun to heal from the recession. Companies that have made severe cuts to their support staff at the height of the economic downturn are finally now in a position to begin addressing their recruitment needs.

“The fact that hiring is strong now really points to a labor void left over from the recession,” said Harrison Barnes, CEO of CallCenterCrossing.com. “At the time, many service-based industries suffered as Americans – both businesses and as individuals – were doing everything in their power to cut costs. Many people in these industries simply couldn’t find jobs, and attrition rates spiked as workers left in droves. Now that the economy is doing better and these same jobs are coming back, there is a real need for workers to fill these positions. We anticipate strong hiring in the service sector if the current trends continue to hold up.”

CONTACT:
Andrew Ostler
CallCenterCrossing
626-243-1814
aostler@er.org
https://www.callcentercrossing.com

About CallCenterCrossing:

CallCenterCrossing.com is a job search site based in Pasadena, CA. It is a part of the Employment Research Institute and owned by A. Harrison Barnes.