According to the Wisconsin Employer Survey, 49% of businesses expect their number of employees to increase in the next six months – a drop from 68% just a year ago and 79% in the Summer 2021 survey.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce conducted the survey in late June on a variety of topics. WMC released data focused specifically on the economy and workforce.
“While certain sectors remain strong, we are starting to see signs that the economy is slowing,” said WMC President & CEO Kurt R. Bauer. “The effects of rising interest rates and higher prices are starting to take their toll on both businesses and workers.”
The latest Wisconsin Employer Survey also found 75% of respondents are struggling to hire, dropping from 85% in the last survey.
One year ago, nearly half of Wisconsin employers said they would raise wages by more than 4%. That number has since dropped to 21%. Additionally, the number of employers who expect to raise wages by less than 3% has grown from 8% 12 months ago to 20% today. Fifty-four percent of respondents expect to raise wages between 3-4% this year.
A majority (54%) of those surveyed rate the Wisconsin economy as moderate, while 39% said it is strong or very strong. Only 16% rank the U.S. economy as strong and 25% said it is weak. Both the state-level and national numbers are relatively unchanged from the last survey.
The Wisconsin Employer Survey also found that inflation is slowing. Forty-nine percent of businesses said their costs have gone up between 6% and 10% in the last year. While 65% of respondents said their costs had increased by more than 10% in the Summer 2022 survey, that number dropped to 43% in the most recent edition.
When specifically asked about the likelihood of a recession, the business community was split. Just over half (54%) expect a recession before the end of the year, while 46% do not expect one.
The Wisconsin Employer Survey is conducted twice a year by WMC. For the Summer 2023 edition, WMC surveyed 170 employers that make up a representative sample of its membership. Businesses of all sizes, industries and geographic locations in Wisconsin participated.
Click here to download the entire Wisconsin Employer Survey – Summer 2023 report on the economy and workforce.
