Survey Shows Optimism Over Job Market

A survey of 1200 businesses by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce showed growing optimism for the economy and and the potential for more hiring in 2011.

The survey confirms what weve been seeing anecdotally we are beginning to emerge from the economic doldrums, said Maud Daudon, chair of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp.

The survey asked business what they saw as the challenges and opportunities in the current economy.

Key findings included the following:

• 56% of businesses said they expected their company to do better in the next year and only 7% thought they would be worse off.
• 41% of businesses expected to hire next year with the majority of positive responses coming from mid-sized companies.
• Sectors that expected to add the most new jobs included gaming, international trade, professional services and life sciences.
• The industry sectors least optimistic about their prospects were government, real estate/construction, energy/environment and manufacturing.
• Respondents cited the regions high quality of life as the top benefit of doing business in King County.

Businesses also showed strong interest in college educated employees with 80% of businesses saying they were looking for employees with four-year or advanced degrees.

A strong education system is key to growing jobs and emerging from the recession, but education has recently taken some of the largest cuts, said Daudon. This survey provides clear evidence that cutting education funding makes economic recovery an even steeper hill to climb for those looking for work and businesses trying to grow; in fact this is an area where we need to make sure we are investing.

The survey confirmed that with the public sector playing a shrinking role in the economy, new demand would come from the private sector.

Businesses successfully emerging from the recession have hit the reset button they have restructured and employed new strategies, said Daudon. Private sector recovery is key to providing resources to invest in the public sector.