Rochester-area employers are expected to hire more than they will fire in the first quarter of next year. 

That’s according to the results of the latest employment outlook survey from Manpower Inc., a nationwide job services agency that recently surveyed 28,000 employers across the country in the nation’s top cities.

In the Rochester area, about 14 percent of area companies surveyed said they planned to hire more employees between January and March, which was about 2 percent better than the national figures. Some 9 percent said they expect to reduce their payrolls, which was 3 percent less than the national figures. The bulk of businesses — 73 percent — expect to maintain their current staffing levels.

Those numbers sound about right to Brian Young, director of Ontario County Workforce Development. Most employers around here are holding steady without much in the way of new hiring or layoffs.

“The Rochester area has been a little more resilient than the rest of the country,” he said. “Unemployment is slightly lower than the national average.”

Young spoke of “pockets of hiring” around the county. There are jobs, he said, “but people have to tap into that hidden job market.”

It may not seem that way, he said, because most companies who are hiring aren’t advertising it.

“They get enough people coming through the door to apply, they don’t need to list their jobs,” he said.

So for job seekers, it’s all about “being at the right place at the right time.”

“It’s not just sitting at your computer and going online,” he said. “You can do that, but you still need to pound the pavement like you traditionally used to do.”

Companies are more likely to see an increase in staffing in the fields of manufacturing, finance, professional services, education, health and hospitality. Those most likely to see a decrease are in construction, transportation, utilities, information services, wholesale and retail.

Jo Natale, spokeswoman for Wegmans Food Markets, said the company will be hiring for new store openings next year, but both locations are out of the state.

“Our workforce has been very stable throughout this year, and we don’t see that changing,” she said.

Those trends held firm for the most part throughout the country, according to the survey.