Best Hiring Environment in Region Since Dot Com Boom, Bay Area Council Finds.

Hiring Plans Swell as CEOs' Confidence in Overall Bay Area Economy Rises

SAN FRANCISCO -- Today the Bay Area Council announced it has found that more local employers are planning to hire Bay Area workers than at any time since the dot com boom. Forty-four percent of the 553 CEOs and top executives in the nine Bay Area counties surveyed January 17-February 5, 2007 for the Bay Area Council Business Confidence Survey will increase their workforce in the next six months, only six percent will decrease, and 47 percent will keep their workforce stable. That is the equivalent of eight companies hiring for every one planning reductions.

"Unemployed workers are becoming the new endangered species in the Bay Area," said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. "Our region has a lower unemployment rate than either California or the United States. As a hub of the global economy, much rests on our local, state and federal governments' policies to feed the demand for workers by first ramping up local worker retraining programs, second, reforming immigration laws to bring the best and brightest workers worldwide to the Bay Area and, third, fast track new housing opportunities for all income levels."

The increased hiring plans were coupled with high confidence in the economy. Fifty-two percent of the CEOs surveyed say the local economy will improve in the next six months, eight percent predict a decline. This is a significant improvement from six month ago, when only a third of respondents expected improvements. The Bay Area Business Confidence Index - the number that distills the survey findings - rose 3 points since last quarter, up to 60 out of 100.

The best sub-region to find companies that are hiring appears to be San Mateo County, where none of the 47 CEOs and top business executive surveyed (a proportional amount) are laying off and 58 percent are hiring. While still strong, CEOs surveyed in Contra Costa and Solano are hiring the least, with 7 percent planning local workforce reductions and 38 percent planning increases.

The majority of companies in all industries in the Bay Area plan to add workers in the next six months. The best industry to find a job may be construction and transportation, where 57 percent are growing and none are shrinking.

"The Bay Area has added about 50,000 newly employed residents in the past year," said Lenny Mendonca, a director at McKinsey & Company, the international management-consulting firm that helped develop the Survey. "This job growth points to the region's resiliency and adaptability after such a staggering economic bust a few years ago. For many Bay Area companies, the expanded and interconnected global marketplace drove their growth. To help continue the job boom, Bay Area policy makers should turn their attention to opening up to and expanding connections with other regions around the globe."

Bay Area Council Business Confidence Survey

The Bay Area Council developed the Bay Area Council Business Confidence Survey to measure employer expectations of the Bay Area economy. The winter survey is the 22nd in a series of quarterly measures of business confidence. Survey findings can be accessed from the "Research" at www.bayareacouncil.org.

The confidential survey of Bay Area business executives is conducted quarterly by Evans/McDonough Company Incorporated for the Bay Area Council with the assistance of McKinsey & Company. All members in the database were invited to participate through e-mail and the Internet. The Survey results are weighted to reflect the approximate percentage of employees in each Bay Area county.

Bay Area Council

Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council (www.bayareacouncil.org) develops and drives regional public policy initiatives and researches critical infrastructure issues. Led by CEOs, the Bay Area Council presents a strong, united voice for hundreds of major employers throughout the Bay Area region whom employ more than 495,000 workers, or 1 of every six private sector employees in the Bay Area.

McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company (www.mckinsey.com) is an international management consulting firm that helps leading corporations and organizations make substantial and lasting improvements in their performance. With approximately 6,000 consultants deployed from eighty-two offices in forty-three countries, McKinsey has expertise on strategic, operational and technological issues.

Evans/McDonough

Evans/McDonough Company Incorporated (www.evansmcdonough.com) is a full-service opinion research and strategic consulting firm serving a broad range of corporate, political and institutional clients. Founded in 1989, EMC principals have been involved in thousands of public opinion studies, ranging from political and public policy strategy polls to extensive market share and customer satisfaction surveys.