Employers bullish on local jobs

Napa-Solano area has ninth-best employment outlook in the nation

By JENNIFER HUFFMAN
Register Business Writer

Napa and Solano County employers expect to hire at a bullish pace during the third quarter of 2008, according to a recent employment outlook survey.

Things are looking so good that, among survey participants, Napa and Solano County enjoy the ninth-best employment outlook in the nation.

From July to September, 53 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while only 10 percent expect to reduce their payrolls, according to Sherrie Phillipi with survey sponsor Manpower Inc. Another 37 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels.

Napa County employers echoed the trend.

“Our hiring has been consistently about 300 to 350 people each year,” said Debi Moore, public information officer at Napa State Hospital, which has 2,400 workers.

“We’ve had a relatively low vacancy rate over the past several years,” said Moore. “A lot of our hiring is to fill nursing staff, and technicians, doctors, social workers and psychologists.”

Queen of the Valley Medical Center employs more than 1,600 people in Napa County. Janet Norris in human resources said she expects around 300 hires through the year, “Most of them are replacing existing positions due to attrition,” such as nursing and technical roles, clinical lab scientists, pharmacists and speech therapists.

Spokesman Jaime Penaherrera said the Queen has different ways to find new employees, including a Web site and recruiters. But often it’s word of mouth that spreads the news. “Our own employees tell us about their friends and family,” he said.

Between its two businesses, Sutter Home and Trinchero Family Estates is another top Napa County employer.

“At this point all hiring is for harvest employment,” said Scott Baxley, director of human resources. The wine operation will hire around 75 people for seasonal employment that usually runs through October or November, totaling more than 600 employees, said Baxley. Most jobs involve production, bottling, cellar work and hospitality, he said. “The wine industry certainly is booming,” said Baxley.

While he couldn’t reveal how many employees he will be hiring, Don Shindle, general manager of the new Westin Verasa hotel in Napa, is definitely interested in finding new staff. Hosting a job fair this past Thursday, the luxury resort is hiring for multiple shifts of approximately 20 kinds of positions including housekeeping, service, room attendants, maintenance, as well as posts within the hotel restaurant, La Toque. “We are a 24-hour operation,” said Shindle, and staff accordingly.

For some employers the hiring season is finished. Cherie McKee, human resources director of the Napa Valley Wine Train, said the business has hired 31 employees since January 1, bringing their total staff to approximately 150. The majority of those jobs are in food service and kitchen work, such as dishwashers and cooks, said McKee. “We did have some management positions open up that are now filled.”

Hearing the survey results, McKee noted that with all the new hotels scheduled to open, “It’s only going to get better,” she said.

Not all employers followed the curve. Owens Corning, parent company of the south county’s Cultured Stone, is the leading producer of composite materials for building and construction. With more than 750 employees, the American Canyon plant is one of Napa’s largest employers.

“Because of business conditions in the U.S. construction market, we would not plan on hiring people during the summer season,” said Jason Saragian, spokesman for Owens Corning headquarters in Ohio. With a national slowdown in construction, “The materials market is not doing well and that affects Napa,” he said.

The survey results don’t surprise Jennifer Vidkjer, vice president of sales and marketing for Alkar Human Resources in Napa.

“Traditionally the third and fourth quarters are your better quarters for staffing. Because of tourism and harvest you definitely see an increase in July to October,” she said.

While staffing is up, Vidkjer said employers are being conservative. “They are waiting for that right candidate,” sometimes shifting resources to cover staffing needs in other areas.

Positions in harvest work, accounting, bookkeeping, and human resources are currently in demand, she said. “With less travel abroad, (tourists) come to the wine country and that definitely helps employment.”

“Employer sentiment about hiring appears to be more encouraging than in the second quarter of 2008, when 30 percent of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and none planned to reduce staff levels,” said Phillipi.

“Hiring activity is expected to be stronger than one year ago when 43 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 7 percent expected to cut payrolls.”

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in durable and non-durable goods manufacturing, transportation and public utilities, wholesale and retail trade, services and public administration. Employers in education plan to reduce staffing levels, while those in construction voice mixed hiring intentions. Hiring in finance, insurance and real estate is expected to remain unchanged.

Nationally, U.S. employers are projecting a slight decline in hiring for third quarter 2008, according to the seasonally adjusted survey results. Of the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 26 percent expect to increase their workforces during the July to September period, while 10 percent expect to scale back their payrolls for a net employment outlook of 16 percent. Fifty-eight percent expect no change in the hiring pace, and 6 percent are undecided about their hiring plans.

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