FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM During the WorkForce 2005 Job Fair last month in the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, Keo Pounpanya filled out a job application.

Employers seeking
workers in tight market

In a recent survey, none of the Hawaii
companies said they plan to cut
back on workers this summer

Honolulu's summer employment market is going to be a scorcher, according to the most recent poll of businesses by Manpower Inc.

In its latest quarterly survey, Manpower found 40 percent of the Hawaii companies it contacted said they were inclined to hire more people between July and September. The rest said they expect to maintain staffing levels, while none said they intend to reduce their work force.

However, filling vacancies could be easier said than done for some businesses in Honolulu's tight labor market, said Judy Bishop, manager of CTA Staffing in Oahu.

"We've had low unemployment rates for quite some time, but evidence of a tightening labor market has only become noticeable, visible and impactful in the last few months as people have started to become pinched by it," Bishop said, adding that many Honolulu companies are spending more to fill positions and to retain current employees.

Employers like Bob Taylor, president of Maui Divers Jewelry, who is scrambling to fill 65 job vacancies that were created by expansion, say they still see a gap between their needs and the work force.

"We hire about 1 in 10 applicants. We've been hiring for years now and never seem to get close to achieving our employment level due to the labor shortage of qualified people," Taylor said.

Still, Honolulu area employers are growing more optimistic about hiring plans than they were a year ago or even just a few months ago, said Valarie Cesar, a spokeswoman for Manpower.

The findings of the most recent survey are brighter than Manpower's second-quarter forecast, when 33 percent of businesses said they planned on adding workers, and 3 percent intended to cut staff.

For the third quarter of this year, Manpower found that job opportunities are strongest in construction, manufacturing, public utilities, transportation, retail, finance, insurance, real estate, education, services and public administration.

"Almost everybody is in demand right now; however, companies aren't lowering their standards on the quality of skills," Bishop said. "Companies are spending more so their expectations are higher."

The national results of the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey say U.S. employers expect a stable hiring pattern to continue into the third quarter.

Of the 16,000 U.S. employers who were surveyed, 31 percent said they plan further hiring while 6 percent expect staffing declines. The majority, 57 percent, anticipate no change, while 6 percent of companies said they are uncertain.