Study forecasts 32% net employment growth in Puerto Rico for 4Q22
ManpowerGroup included Puerto Rico for the first time in its “Employment Outlook Survey,” which confirmed, among other things, that Puerto Rican employers forecast there will be a 32% net growth during the fourth quarter of 2022.
In Puerto Rico, the wholesale and retail trade sector has the highest hiring expectation with a 67% growth, according to the.
The year-end expectations represent a slight growth from the current quarter’s net employment outlook growth of 30%, said Melissa Rivera, ManpowerGroup’s general manager for Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.
She said the survey results in Puerto Rico show that 44% of Puerto Rican employers plan to increase their workforce in the coming months, 12% plan to reduce it, 35% do not expect changes and 9% do not know.
The Wholesale and Retail Trade sector reports the strongest hiring plans with an expectation of +67%, followed by Banking, Finances and Real Estate (+66%) and by the Construction sector (+61%).
The survey divides Puerto Rico into three zones, with towns in the center and eastern areas confirming the best hiring intentions with +33% and +32%, respectively.
Meanwhile, micro firms confirmed the best employment prospects (+37%) compared to other company sizes, according to the survey.
“The survey is an independent instrument, carried out by our company ManpowerGroup surveying employers from all over the world, which can serve as an important economic index for the business community and for the local government because in addition to knowing the employment expectations in the country, comparisons can be made with other labor markets around the world,” said Rivera.
Puerto Rico’s survey sample included more than 250 employers across the island. For the upcoming quarter, the poll is expected to increase the sample up to 500 employers.
The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage the employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity, the company explained.
The next survey will be released in January 2023 and will report hiring expectations for the first quarter of the year.
