While more U.S. employers plan to hire in the first quarter of 2012 than in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a survey of 18,000 U.S. employers by ManpowerGroup Inc., a record number of employers are unsure of their plans — 7 percent, up from 3 percent in the fourth quarter as well as year over year. This level of uncertainty is the highest since since 2005 and is the most significant quarterly increase since 1977.

“There’s no doubt that employers need more hiring flexibility, but at the same time, they continue to struggle to find talent with mission-critical skills,” said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas. With executives instituting hiring freezes and managers struggling with a dearth of skills, “employers rely on contingent labor more and more as they move people in and out of their businesses as demand for their products and services fluctuates,” Prising concludes.

For survey and related surveys from ManpowerGroup, click here.