This is the area of ​​the island that will have the most jobs in the first quarter of 2024

According to the most recent ManpowerGroup Employment Expectations Survey, employers in Puerto Rico plan to hire more employees this first quarter (33%), seven points more than their intentions for the same period in 2023.

In fact, the results show that Puerto Rico ranks eighth out of 41 countries surveyed And Exceeds the global average of 26% of recruiters’ recruitment expectations.

However, this figure represents a decrease compared to the previous quarter’s hiring intentions, which is the period when some companies usually recruit more people because it is the Christmas season.

“It is positive that employers in Puerto Rico continue to show very high intentions for hiring employees because it means they want to continue to grow their businesses. We need to focus our efforts on securing these jobs despite the shortage of top-level talent. It is necessary to continue changing and adapting to meet the needs of people looking for work,” said Melissa Rivera Roena, general manager of MPG in Puerto Rico, announcing the results of the survey this Tuesday.

Employers in the south of the island are planning to hire more staff

Companies in the Southern region showed the highest placement expectations (57%), followed by the Western region at 50%, the Center at 41% and the East at 22%. Northern and metropolitan areas have the lowest trends, with 14% and 7% respectively.

Sectors and sizes of companies that will hire the most

Regarding the size of the companies, The strongest hiring expectations are among medium-sized companies (50-249 employees), with 69% expected. and micro enterprises (1–10 employees) with 36%, followed by large companies (1,000–4,999 employees) with 35%.

“By the first quarter of 2024, “Positive hiring intentions are predicted in the nine economic sectors measured by the survey and staffing levels are expected to increase in all sectors of Puerto Rico.”Alberto Alessi, ManpowerGroup’s General Director for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, highlights.

These are the areas where there is the highest intention to recruit

However, the sector with the highest hiring intentions in Puerto Rico for the first quarter of the year is communications services (74%).Which has increased by 16 percentage points from the previous quarter and 66 points from the first quarter of 2023.

Other sectors with higher labor demand this quarter were information technology companies (64%), and in third place was manufacturing (49%).

For her part, Monica Flores, president of ManpowerGroup for Latin America, pointed out that The positions most sought after by employers in Puerto Rico are in the information technology and data analysis, operations and logistics, sales and marketing, human resources and customer service sectors.

“In Puerto Rico we continue to have high recruiting expectations while facing a persistent shortage of talent. Training and updating are fundamental tools to retain and adapt future work-ready talent, said Rivera Roena.

The General Manager said that inclusion, diversity, soft skills, artificial intelligence, managing different generations in the workplace and continuous learning “are not fashionable topics, they are essential in the current work scenario. Adopting them is not only necessary to change the organizational culture, But it is also essential to retain and attract the best minds into our ranks.

Rivera Roena pointed out that labor trends in Puerto Rico suggest there is a need to incorporate artificial intelligence, train personnel to take advantage of the functions of that technology, and update existing skills when considering jobs available in that sector. There are challenges in understanding the need.

The Q1 survey was conducted from October 1 to October 31, 2023, with participation from a total of 500 employers in Puerto Rico.