Puerto Rico employers’ net hiring expectations at 14% in 2nd quarter
ManpowerGroup reports that manufacturing is driving job growth.
The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey (MEOS) reports that Puerto Rico’s net hiring trend for the second quarter of the year is 14%, marking a 2% increase from the previous quarter.
According to Melissa Rivera-Roena, general manager of ManpowerGroup Puerto Rico, the survey found that 30% of employers plan to expand their workforce between April and June, 51% do not anticipate changes, 16% expect to reduce positions and 3% remain uncertain.
“Hiring expectations rose moderately for the next quarter,” Rivera-Roena said. “This is positive data as we had been observing a decline throughout 2024 after the very high peaks of 2023. This data shows us a trend of stability in the labor market in Puerto Rico.”
The manufacturing sector recorded the highest hiring expectations at 28%, a sharp increase from 0% last year and up from 24% in the previous quarter. Other sectors showed (27%) growth, including information technology (25%), finance (21%), consumer goods (19%), and life sciences and health (16%).
Meanwhile, communications (-38%), energy (-9%), and transportation and logistics (-3%) experienced declines in hiring expectations for the next quarter.
Rivera-Roena said that, by region, central Puerto Rico (28%), northern (22%) and metro (17%) areas showed the strongest hiring intentions. However, the south and west each saw a decline to 8%, while the east recorded a negative hiring trend (-3%).
Medium-sized companies (50 to 249 employees) had the highest hiring expectations (31%), followed by small businesses (10 to 49 workers) at 25% and micro-enterprises (10 or fewer employees) at 17%.
Larger companies (250 to 999 employees) reported a 14% hiring expectation, while firms with 1,000 to 4,999 workers came in at 10%. The only category with a negative outlook (-30%) was companies with more than 5,000 employees.
Puerto Rico ranks 31st globally
In a global comparison of 41 countries, Puerto Rico improved its ranking to 31st. The hiring average was 25%.
India (43%), the United States (34%) and Mexico (33%) again led global hiring expectations, while Greece (7%), Romania (6%) and Argentina (0%) reported the weakest outlooks.
The Puerto Rico survey was based on a sample of 500 employers.
“This moderate increase in hiring expectations in Puerto Rico is important, even though changes are reported in the economic public policy of the United States,” said Alberto Alesi, general director of ManpowerGroup for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. “It implies that there is a climate of confidence among employers regarding the stability of businesses.”
