Indiana Business Council - Job Outlook

Indiana Businesses Have Renewed Optimism, But Still Tentative About Hiring in 2011

INDIANAPOLIS —Indiana business professionals have a clearly optimistic outlook about the Hoosier economy in 2011, according to results of a comprehensive statewide survey released today. But while responses from approximately 2,000 members of the INdiana Business Council indicate surging confidence about sales and consumer spending, there appears to be far less enthusiasm about adding jobs.

“There is a real sense of optimism about the Indiana economy, which is encouraging,” said Gerry Dick, president of Grow INdiana Media Ventures LLC and host of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick. “The obvious question is when will businesses be confident enough to begin hiring again?”

The initial INdiana Business Council survey focuses on the 2011 Indiana Economic Outlook and the results include:

• 65 percent have a positive outlook on the Indiana economy
• 73 percent believe sales will increase
• 68 percent believe customer spending will increase
• 88 percent think their company is headed in the right direction

Delving deeper into the results, we find that:

• While 73 percent believe sales will improve, only 40 percent believe hiring will increase.
• While 58 percent of CEOs expect employee morale to improve, only 37 percent of staff feel it will.
  
• While 59 percent feel Indiana has business friendly policies, only 13 percent feel national government does.

A partnership between Inside INdiana Business and Indianapolis-based Walker, the Indiana Business Council is an online panel of nearly 4,000 Indiana business professionals that will be surveyed on important business and economic issues throughout the year.  Feedback from the panel will be analyzed, interpreted and published by Walker and Inside INdiana Business.

To download an executive summary of the study, or to apply to participate on the council, visit www.INdianaBusinessCouncil.com. This weekend, mayors, business and community leaders from throughout the state will discuss survey results in a special edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, which airs on 15 television stations statewide.

About Inside INdiana Business

More people get their Indiana business news from Inside INdiana Business than from any other source. With a fully-integrated portfolio of television, radio, Internet and permission-based email products, Inside INdiana Business is trusted by an educated and affluent audience around Indiana and the globe. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Inside INdiana Business’ platform of daily business news products can be watched, heard and read in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois (including Chicagoland), Ohio and Kentucky as well as business centers worldwide.

About Walker

Walker Information, Inc. is a privately held consulting firm specializing in customer loyalty and related customer strategies, including innovative approaches to accelerate growth and increase profitability. Helping businesses for 70 years, the firm provides tailored, comprehensive solutions to help companies obtain, segment, value, retain, and grow customers. Walker works with some of the world’s most influential businesses as well as emerging organizations of all sizes. For more information, please visit www.walkerinfo.com.