Hiring in the U.S. manufacturing and service sectors in June will reach four-year highs when compared to the same month in previous years, according to the leading indicators of a national employment report released today by the Society for Human Resource Management.

The report’s survey found that 61.4 percent of manufacturing companies plan to hire in June while 4.4 percent plan to reduce their workforces for a net increase of 57.0 percent, up from a net increase of 37.3 percent in June 2013.

Among service-sector employers, 49.6 percent plan to add staff in June and 6.0 percent plan to cut their workforces for a net increase of 43.6 percent, up from a net increase of 42.9 percent in June 2013.

HR professionals' recruiting challenges for key positions also hit four-year highs for May in both the manufacturing and service sectors. A net of 18.2 percent of manufacturing respondents had more difficulty with recruiting in May, a jump from 11.9 percent in May 2013. A net of 18.7 percent of service-sector HR professionals had more difficulty recruiting in May, up from 15.4 percent a year ago.

“Increased employment expectations may signal a move into a more active recruiting environment,” said Jennifer Schramm, manager of workforce trends at SHRM. “In this case, it is not surprising that recruiting difficulty rose in both sectors in May compared with the same time last year.”

A net 9.7 percent of manufacturing respondents reported increasing new-hire compensation in May, down from 10.0 percent in May 2013. In the service sector, a net 6.7 percent of companies increased new-hire compensation in May, down from 7.9 percent in the same month a year ago.

The report is based on a survey of human resource executives at more than 500 manufacturing and 500 service-sector firms.