Local businesses have more jobs to offer and are feeling more optimistic about their short-term outlook, according to a recent survey.

A survey of more than 500 area companies, conducted by staffing and recruiting firm QPS Employment Group in February, showed 34 percent of local companies expected to hire more staff in the second quarter of fiscal 2010. That figure is up from 25 percent of companies that expected to hire more staff in the first quarter.

John Milisauskas, manager of the Kenosha County Job Center, said more jobs are becoming available in Kenosha.

The Job Center listed 2,600 job openings at the end of June 2009. The most recent results from this year show 4,123 openings in Kenosha County.

Milisauskas said the majority of those openings were in management positions and office and administrative support.

“Business must be increasing, otherwise businesses would not be doing that hiring,” Milisauskas said.

Other fields showing more openings were health-care practitioners, production application, architecture and engineering and computer and mathematical-related jobs.

The availability of architecture and computer-related jobs could be an encouraging sign, Milisauskas said.

“Those jobs were stagnant over the last year,” Milisauskas said.

Only 7 percent of companies expected to decrease staff this quarter and 59 percent expected to remain the same.

More than half of area companies, 53 percent, also expected business to improve this quarter. Forty-two percent expected to remain steady while 5 percent expected a decline in business.

Other survey results

Some concerns about the nation’s long economic slump are still readily evident in the survey.

The economy was cited by 78 percent of surveyed companies as a large issue. Other concerns included insurance costs (25 percent), lack of skilled and qualified employees (20 percent), material costs (19 percent) and government regulations (13 percent).

An overwhelming majority of businesses, 87 percent, also felt the recession is not over.

Matching jobs, skills

Milisauskas also said that more jobs being available may not necessarily mean there are people in place to fill those roles.

“Seeing an additional 1,523 jobs is encouraging, but there are times where the skills are mismatched,” Milisauskas said. “There may be an increase of jobs, but there may not be an increase of people with those skills looking for work.”

But this spring may still bring reasons for hope in the local economy.

“I think there is some optimism, typically in spring, that hiring increases a little bit,” Milisauskas said. “The predictions have been that the first quarter would be slow, but the second quarter would pick up as things go along.”

And there may be some supporting evidence for a positive economic outlook: No businesses have given notice of closing in Kenosha County since Dairyland Greyhound Park’s Nov. 10 filing to close in January.

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