Companies Expecting Less Hiring, More Cuts

Fewer than 1/4 of employers expect to add positions in the 1st-Q of 2008, according to a survey of 14,000 companies that will be released recently. 12% of companies expect to reduce employment in the three-month period starting in Jan., while 22% said they will add jobs, according to the survey by global staffing firm Manpower Inc. The numbers show a slight drop in hiring intentions from the same quarter last year, when 23% of employers said they'd increase hiring and 11% expected a decrease. They also show more pessimism than last quarter, when 27% of employers planned to increase hiring and 9% planned a drop. But overall, they don't rep big changes, said the VP of world of work solutions for Manpower. She said employers anticipate only marginal changes compared to previous quarter, so she doesn