BEVFORCE and BevNET Reveal Results of First-Ever aState of the Industrya Survey

New York, NY, January 26, 2010 – BEVFORCE (www.bevforce.com), the beverage industry’s largest career network, and BevNET, a recognized authority on the beverage industry, recently conducted a survey assessing current and future attitudes on beverage employment, staffing and job security. Despite the fact that nationwide unemployment rates remain steady, results revealed that beverage professionals are anticipating that 2010 will be a better year than 2009.

More than 1,000 beverage professionals in both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic space participated in the online survey, including wholesalers/distributors, manufacturers/suppliers, retailers and service providers. Respondents included primarily executive level, marketing and sales professionals in the beverage industry.

Results also showed that beverage industry hiring rates will remain consistent and there will be fewer layoffs and internal restructuring in 2010.

While not recession proof, the beverage industry has definitely proven to be recession-resistant.  “Employment is typically a lagging economic indicator, so coming out of a recession, it’s assumed that jobs are the last thing to return,” says Josh Wand, President of BEVFORCE.  “The beverage industry is ahead of curve; not only has there been a steady flow of job opportunities available over the past few months, but as the economy continues to improve, we anticipate a continuous upswing in the number of jobs available for qualified beverage professionals.”

Additional survey results revealed a positive view of the coming year:
•      75% of respondents anticipate positive growth for their company is 2010.
•      67% of respondents think that their company will be hiring in 2010.
•      75% of respondents feel secure in their current position, despite the current economic climate.
•      6% of respondents think that their company will conduct a round of layoffs in 2010, while 25% conducted a round of layoffs in 2009.
•      15% of respondents think that their company will go through a reorganization in 2010, while 34% reorganized in 2009.
•      71% of respondents anticipate making new hires in 2010, while in 2009 67% hired new employees and in 2008 69% hired new employees.

The survey was collected and analyzed by Checkbox (www.checkbox.com), a leading developer of online survey software.