The Oregon Employment Department reveled in its first Future Hiring Survey that job hiring in the state will pick up by July 2011. The survey said that one out of three state companies projected to hire employees over the next six months. However, the hiring will not be brought about by company expansion. Most of the hiring will just fill some seasonal jobs or replace those workers who have been laid off previously. The data was collected from the last week of September through mid-November. The survey also noted that among the 4,600 companies surveyed, about 12% planned to increase their total number of employees while 15% will decrease staff. The Majority of the surveyed companies, about 62%, stated that they will maintain their workforce numbers at their present size, and will only hire due to turnover or seasonal demand.

The survey added that firms from professional and technical services were the most optimistic employers. One in five companies said that they are likely to increase their total staff. Information companies were next most likely, with 17% indicating that they planned to increase their number of employees, followed by manufacturers, at 14%. Meanwhile, the most pessimistic employers belonged to the natural resources and mining industry, which includes the timber industry. About 34% of those employers said they plan to cut more jobs in the next six months.

The survey also named the top five jobs where employers will be hiring in the next six months. These are retail sales representatives, truck drivers (heavy and tractor-trailer), secretaries, construction laborers and farm workers.