The manufacturing sector saw growth in March 2013. Companies that have operated lean over the past several months know they cannot keep up with production goals without burning out their existing staff. The top concern for executives so far in 2013 is talent management, greater than financial management and marketing combined. Recent data shows that corporate leaders do not have high confidence in their management team, especially over the next five years. Many indicate that their recruiting and talent objective fail to meet acceptable standards. Recruiting has suffered during the recession and recovery while companies scale back their efforts. The positive news is that the economy has added jobs for the past four months and positive growth is anticipated for this summer.
Employees surveyed during March 2013 expressed greater confidence in the economic situation. There is still a great amount of workers who express concerns about limited opportunities that match their skills and experiences. Yet there is still strong upswing in employee confidence. Recent government measures it seems are creating a challenge for the positive momentum we have witnessed in recent months. That said, consumers are also showing more confidence in the direction of the economy. In the past twelve months nearly 2.4 million jobs have been added to the U.S. Economy.