Bay Area CFOs see slight hiring uptick in Q3

Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
LATEST NEWS
June 10, 2005

A net 3 percent of chief financial officers in the San Francisco Bay Area expect to hire accounting and finance professionals in the third quarter of 2005, according to a survey conducted for Robert Half International. Eight percent of executives surveyed plan to add staff during the quarter and 5 percent anticipate reductions in personnel. The net 3 percent increase is the same as the national average. The majority of respondents, 83 percent, foresee no change in hiring in the third quarter.

"Businesses are trying to gauge the strength of the economy before determining whether or not to add new full-time employees," says Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) of Menlo Park. "Uncertainty related to issues such as energy costs, along with rising healthcare expenses, have contributed to the cautious environment. In addition, high productivity has allowed firms to remain competitive without having to expand staff levels."

The local results reflect a two-quarter rolling average based on the responses of 200 CFOs from a stratified random sample of companies in the San Francisco Bay area with 20 or more employees; 1,400 CFOs were queried for the national data. The surveys were conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half International, which has been tracking financial hiring activity in the United States since 1992.