On the heels of highly optimistic hiring plans expressed in our inaugural survey one year ago, employers remain bullish in their intentions to bring on new full-time employees, albeit to a somewhat lesser degree. As the job market continues to recover and unemployment rates start to decline across the country, employers echo their expectations from a year ago that the Obama administration will continue to assign a high priority to job creation.

An eagerness for expanding their workforce does not come without recognition of the challenges posed by the current job market. While respondents feel key barriers facing workers in today’s job market have started to decline, the majority still report that current economic conditions are affecting their workforce. In addition, while nearly half of respondents have not experienced difficulty filling open positions, some respondents reported difficulties such as the inability to provide the compensation requested by job applicants and a lack of U.S. citizens with highly specialized skills.