Few Local Employers Laying Off Employees, Outsourcing Jobs

Few Local Employers Laying Off Employees, Outsourcing Jobs

According to the results of the 2011 ERC/Smart Business Workplace Practices Survey, only 5.6% of organizations are anticipating layoffs in 2011, the lowest percentage reported by the survey in the preceding 11 years. Additionally, the results show that the percentage of employers outsourcing jobs overseas had also declined.

Results from the preceding eleven surveys, conducted by ERC in collaboration with Smart Business Magazine, show that while the percentage of employers projecting layoffs since 2001 had widely fluctuated and spiked in 2009 (54.2%), most employers were not expecting any layoffs in 2011.

In addition, the survey results showed that the percentage of organizations outsourcing jobs overseas had decreased two years in a row to 6.7%. This also suggests that jobs are staying in Northeast Ohio, and may have indicated an upturn in the local economy from the two years before.

“We are pleased to see that Northeast Ohio employers are keeping jobs in the region and that the percentage of employers projecting layoffs is the lowest since we began conducting the survey. In other surveys we’ve conducted, we’ve seen more employers also indicate that they are hiring and providing pay increases this year as compared to the past two years. These are all positive signs for our local economy,” says an ERC Representative in 2011.