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Not drinking the Kool-Aid....
Dec. 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Significant hiring won't begin at most U.S. companies until well into 2011, even though the U.S. economy will continue its modest recovery next year, according to professionals in the finance departments of U.S. companies.
The 2010 Business Outlook Survey released today by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) and underwritten by Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) shows that while more than a quarter of respondents indicate that their organizations will shrink their payrolls in 2010, 46 percent expect that their organizations' workforces will be stable in the new year.
When hiring begins, most finance professionals expect payroll growth to be modest at first. Of organizations surveyed, 25 percent anticipate returning to pre-recession staffing levels in 2011; 32 percent expect a rebound in 2012; and three out of ten do not expect their organizations ever to return their payrolls to pre-recessionary levels.
Even if the recession might have ended by a textbook definition, nearly 90 percent of financial professionals surveyed believe that the U.S. economy has yet to enter a period of sustained economic growth. Fifty-one percent do not see economic growth beginning until the second half of 2010, and nearly a quarter do not see it happening until at least 2011.
If the ability to obtain credit does not improve by midyear 2010, then 55 percent of organizations expect to take additional actions to conserve cash, which might include:
Any of these actions would be on top of the measures that 96 percent of organizations surveyed had taken since the beginning of the financial crisis in September 2008.
Also looking ahead, 59 percent of financial professionals anticipate a rise in the Fed funds target rate during the second half of 2010. Eleven percent of survey respondents believe the first rate hike will occur sooner – during the first half of 2010 – while 30 percent anticipate the first rate hike will not occur until 2011 or later
ABOUT THE SURVEY
Between Dec. 1 and Dec. 11, the AFP surveyed U.S. financial professionals about current and expected business conditions in the U.S. The survey generated 1,014 responses from professionals holding a variety of positions within their organizations, including CFO, vice president of finance, treasurer and assistant treasurer.
http://www.afponline.org/pub/res/new...217_jobs.html#
Dec. 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Significant hiring won't begin at most U.S. companies until well into 2011, even though the U.S. economy will continue its modest recovery next year, according to professionals in the finance departments of U.S. companies.
The 2010 Business Outlook Survey released today by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) and underwritten by Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) shows that while more than a quarter of respondents indicate that their organizations will shrink their payrolls in 2010, 46 percent expect that their organizations' workforces will be stable in the new year.
When hiring begins, most finance professionals expect payroll growth to be modest at first. Of organizations surveyed, 25 percent anticipate returning to pre-recession staffing levels in 2011; 32 percent expect a rebound in 2012; and three out of ten do not expect their organizations ever to return their payrolls to pre-recessionary levels.
Even if the recession might have ended by a textbook definition, nearly 90 percent of financial professionals surveyed believe that the U.S. economy has yet to enter a period of sustained economic growth. Fifty-one percent do not see economic growth beginning until the second half of 2010, and nearly a quarter do not see it happening until at least 2011.
If the ability to obtain credit does not improve by midyear 2010, then 55 percent of organizations expect to take additional actions to conserve cash, which might include:
- Reducing capital spending (68 percent)
- Freezing or reducing hiring (62 percent)
- Considering closing locations/offices (33 percent)
- Reducing current or planned inventory levels (25 percent)
- Delaying payments to vendors (23 percent)
- Tightening credit standards for trading partners (23 percent)
- Drawing on credit facilities that are still available to build cash (22 percent)
Any of these actions would be on top of the measures that 96 percent of organizations surveyed had taken since the beginning of the financial crisis in September 2008.
Also looking ahead, 59 percent of financial professionals anticipate a rise in the Fed funds target rate during the second half of 2010. Eleven percent of survey respondents believe the first rate hike will occur sooner – during the first half of 2010 – while 30 percent anticipate the first rate hike will not occur until 2011 or later
ABOUT THE SURVEY
Between Dec. 1 and Dec. 11, the AFP surveyed U.S. financial professionals about current and expected business conditions in the U.S. The survey generated 1,014 responses from professionals holding a variety of positions within their organizations, including CFO, vice president of finance, treasurer and assistant treasurer.
http://www.afponline.org/pub/res/new...217_jobs.html#