The Manpower Group, a global staffing service company, conducts an annual survey of employers’ plans for hiring in the coming year. This year, Puerto Rico is #5 for new hiring growth among 42 countries and territories.
The Manpower Group asked 40,671 employers whether they plan to hire more or fewer people, and why. For 2025, 42% expect no change and 16% expect to hir efewer, but 40% expect to hire more people. This works out, with Manpower’s methodology, to a 24% Global Net Employment Outlook. The Net Employment Outlook for the Unit4d States is 23%, just a little lower than the global average.
For Puerto Rico, however, has a 26% Net Employment Outlook — higher than average. The Island shares this high number with Japan, Canada, and France. That puts Puerto Rico behind China, Singapore, and the top spot United Kingdom, but higher than every Latin American nation except Brazil.
Growth in Puerto Rico
It is in the area of hiring growth that Puerto Rico really shines. Manpower Group asked employers on the Island about their hiring plans for the third quarter of 2025, and found that their Net Employment Growth is 18% higher than the second quarter of the year, and 10% higher than last year at this time.
Who’s hiring? 31% of employers in Puerto Rico plan to hire new people. The energy sector is most determined to hire new workers, followed by healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, and information technology. The finance sector, real estate, and consumer-facing businesses were less confident.
Geography makes a difference, too. Just 9% of employers in San Juan, which is the most important location from an economic perspective, plan to hire new workers. The South is strongest at 33%.
Employment in Puerto Rico
The unemployment rate in Puerto Rico is currently 5.5%, compared with 4.2% for the United States as a whole. The current figure for the U.S. is at the highest level since last November, but is still lower than the rate in Puerto Rico. However, 5.5% is a significant improvement over Puerto Rico’s unemployment figures in the past.
As the chart shows, the unemployment rate has fallen fairly steadily over the past decade, with peaks in the pandemic years, but it got back on track after that time and is now almost one third of the highest figure of 14% in 2016.
However, this does not mean that 95% of Puerto Ricans of working age are employed. Workforce participation in Puerto Rico is slightly less than 45%, compared with just over 62% for the United States.
Again, this is a metric that has shown significant improvement over the past decade.
While some of the improvement is fueled by — and funded by — federal investments in disaster recovery which may not last even as long as previously anticipated, employment in the private sector is at a 15% high. Entrepreneurship is on the rise, and the Island’s economy overall is experiencing a turnaround.
With the level playing field which statehood can bring, Puerto Rico can expect to have the opportunity to reach full potential, gaining prosperity and a full participation in American democracy. Tell your representatives that you want to see equality and justice through statehood for Puerto Rico.
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