News story made available courtesy of The Poughkeepsie Journal.

Manpower survey finds valley firms willing to hire, Applicants want to move here

Tuesday, September 13th, 2005

By Craig Wolf
Poughkeepsie Journal

The jobs picture looks upbeat for the fourth quarter in the mid-Hudson Valley, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey people say.

The company's check into the intentions of managers who do the hiring finds the Dutchess market looks "robust" and Ulster's appears "prosperous," in line with a national trend.

In Dutchess, a third of the employers surveyed plan to boost payrolls from October through December, while only 3 percent plan to cut.

Ulster employers who plan to hire outnumber those who plan to cut 40 percent to 7 percent.

Top segments for hiring are manufacturing and trade.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Harold King, executive vice president of the Council of Industry of Southeastern New York, a manufacturers' trade group in Newburgh.

"It's not extremely good, but positive. They're holding their own or adding a few jobs here or there."

Manufacturer closing
But the mid-Hudson news is bittersweet, King said, because the region is losing a solid manufacturer that has been around for decades. Tarkett, a maker of floor-covering products, is shutting down its plant in Vails Gate, Orange County, and putting 160 out of work, King said.

The company cited overcapacity and high costs, mostly labor, he said.

"It's a familiar pattern," King said. "Some of these old-line companies lay off a substantial part of their workers or the entire work force, but other companies are looking for them."

Trade usually picks up in the last quarter, observed David Livshin, president of Dagar Group, Fishkill-based manager of malls and other retail sites. "There are a lot of people that are put on seasonally," he said.

Livshin said when he advertised to fill an office position, he got a flood of resumes, many with letters saying they wanted to move from jobs in New York.

"The majority of resumes coming in are people that are working in New York City, traveling out of this area and getting paid higher wages ...

and want to come back here," Livshin said. "People just don't want to be that far from home."

The Manpower survey also found local hiring strength in financial areas and services.

"Employers (in Dutchess) are showing much more confidence about hiring than they were a year ago when 7 percent of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely and none intended to cut back," Gregory Scotti, Manpower manager in Poughkeepsie, said in a news release.

Nationally, Manpower's survey found 29 percent of employers planned to add staff in the fourth quarter; 8 percent said they would likely cut personnel.

This is the seventh straight quarter of such strength in the jobs picture nationally, Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and CEO of Manpower, said in a news release.