A sign advertising hiring. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Wisconsin businesses had less trouble hiring workers at the end of 2024, but they also weren’t hiring as much. That’s according to a survey conducted by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
From manufacturers to retail, the number of Wisconsin businesses having trouble finding workers dropped to its lowest level in a decade.
While the latest results of the semi-annual CEO survey, conducted by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, appear to be good news, there’s more to the story.
“Subject to interpretation. The question is, are you having trouble finding workers? 63% say they are; that’s down significantly from 88% in 2022. That, to us, indicates a probable slowdown in hiring,” said Kurt Bauer, WMC president/CEO.
WMC partially attributes that slowdown to what it calls a demographic problem in Wisconsin. There aren’t enough workers to replace retiring baby boomers.
Companies, specifically those in manufacturing, that may be dealing with a slowdown, aren’t laying workers off. Instead, they’re retaining employees — knowing when the economy picks up, it will be hard to hire for open positions.
Bauer said, “Despite the fact that hiring seems to be slowing down, our members are overall more optimistic entering 2025 than they were a year ago, and that’s positive.”
Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance says the hiring slow down wasn’t unexpected. It’s a trend typically seen during a presidential election year.
But as we turn the page to 2025, things are already starting to pickup.
“I am hearing from people who have been looking for a little while that are hearing the phone ring again and are getting companies to contact them about potential job opportunities,” said Ann Franz, NEW Manufacturing Alliance executive director.
Companies were trying to do more with less, but Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance says more than 40% of the manufacturers it deals with are expecting to hire workers in the first and second quarter of this year.
Franz added, “I really feel very strongly that we should see an uptick in hiring. We just hopefully will find the people we need to fill them.”
Job manufacturers are most likely going to be looking to fill in 2025 are for machinists, general laborers, industrial maintenance mechanics and those in the skilled trades.
Comments