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Survey Shows Strong Employment Growth In Metro Detroit

DETROIT (WWJ) - A new survey released by Manpower Employment shows that metro Detroit employers will be hiring at a bullish pace in the third quarter of 2012.

The Detroit-Warren-Livonia sector is showing the fifth highest growth in the country -- and according to Manpower's Regional Director Eric Jones, the numbers match what he's seeing in the field.

"Our employment outlook indicator is 22, which means that 22 percent of companies plan to add staff versus decreasing staff," said Jones.  "And I think that is the strongest number that I've seen over last two or three years."

Jones said all indicators are that the strong growth will not slow down any time soon.  The positive news, according to Jones, is that he's seeing employers hiring all range of workers, from production to high-end positions.

"We're definitely seeing a high demand of hiring by our employers at all levels within an organization," said Jones.  "Everything from production workers to high-end type positions."

But Jones said as good as the numbers currently are, the region's poor educational ranking concerns him about long-term employment sustainability.

"In my line of business, what we see is that really skill and the quality of candidates that you have in a market is what drives businesses to locate into an area," said Jones.  "So I'm concerned that over the long-term if we're not keeping up in educational development, that's going to be a challenge for us as a community."

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