Hiring Outlook for Second Half of 2020 Muted as COVID-19 Continues to Impact Businesses

With several states experiencing spikes in COVID-19 cases, businesses are predicting a dim hiring outlook for the latter half of the year with only 35% of decision-makers saying their company will increase employees.

This is according to a newly released survey conducted by The Harris Poll and commissioned by Express Employment Professionals.

A total of 42% of hiring decision-makers predict there will be no change in their business, while 16% anticipate a decrease in employee count.

This is similar to the first half of 2020 when 31% of hiring decision-makers said their company planned to increase employees with 41% reporting no change and 26% decreasing staff. 

Express experts say that despite the rise in cases, they don't foresee the country shutting down again and add that businesses must be prepared with increased safety measures for their workers.

Express CEO Bill Stoller says he sees signs of life in the workforce, which gives him hope that the worst is behind us.

"I am incredibly optimistic better days are ahead," he said. "We are not out of the woods yet, and the sooner businesses implement measures to protect their workers, the sooner they can safely bring employees back to work, benefiting both American families and the economy."

Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between April 21 and May 6, 2020, among 1,005 U.S. hiring decision-makers (defined as adults ages 18+ in the U.S. who are employed full-time or self-employed or have been laid off, furloughed, or given a zero hour schedule in the past 60 days but worked full-time or were self-employed full-time prior, work at companies with more than 1 employee, and have full/significant involvement in hiring decisions at their company). Data was weighted where necessary by company size to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

About Express Employment Professionals
Express Employment Professionals is in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Providing localized staffing solutions to our community, Express employed 552,000 people across North America in 2019.

The Eugene Express office is located at  945 Garfield St. Eugene, OR 97402 and serves the list all areas your office services. Local businesses and applicants are encouraged to stop by, visit www.expresspros.com/EugeneOR/ or call (541) 686-0001 .