Half of Broward Employers Plan to Hire, CEO Survey Says
About half of Broward County, Florida, CEOs say their companies plan to hire full-time employees in the next 18 months, according to a survey to be released Thursday.
That’s down slightly from 57 percent who said they expected to hire in 2013.
The participation of more larger employers may have swayed the numbers, said Mike Moore, a director of profit and performance improvement at Kaufman Rossin., a CPA firm that conducted the survey for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance.
About 130 decision-makers responded to the survey. Their top concern was “finding qualified professional employees.” Moore said that may indicate that employers are not finding the employees they want at the salaries they’re willing to pay.
Employers said said they’re investing more in training employees, with the philosophy that “if I can’t find what I want, I will grow what I have,” Moore said.
The majority of CEOs said they feel confident about the economy. Sixty-six percent said business is generally better than last year, up from about 60 percent in 2013. About 30 percent said business is the same, and 4 percent said business was worse.
More than 80 percent said they expect greater improvements over the next 18 months, with more than half expecting their business to grow both in South Florida and nationwide.
Nearly 50 percent say they plan to increase full-time staff while 40 percent said they’ll add part-time staff. Less than 5 percent said they would decrease staff.
Of the companies contacted for the survey, 75 percent are small businesses, and most have operated in Broward for at least a decade.
