The latest MPI Business Barometer is reporting a sharp increase in employment numbers within the meeting and event industry, with the U.S. and Europe currently trending higher than Canada. Corporate business is up, but meetings are focusing on customer satisfaction rather than sales meetings or incentives. Europe and Canada are seeing their largest gains in international association meetings while the U.S. sees greatest gains in corporate domestic.

Ten percent more meeting professionals reported increased full-time employment in the U.S. and Europe since October 2011, and 15 percent more U.S. meeting professionals report increases in part-time and contract employment. Business levels continue to increase slowly, requiring many companies that were “doing more with less” to hire and train, as they note that new hires aren’t generally from within the industry. Respondents say the industry labor pool shrank during the past few years as meeting professionals left to start new careers or launch their own companies, thus increasing competition and pricing pressure.

Meeting professionals -- planners and suppliers alike -- say they are increasing their value-add in order to differentiate their services from competitors, making employee training increasingly important. Concerns over economic instability have spread globally as meeting professionals eye U.S. politics and economic turmoil, Eurozone weaknesses and global economic health.

Third-party planners and suppliers have begun developing more strategic marketing plans and improving efficiency, while corporate and association planners rely on aggressive contract negotiations and plan further ahead to lock in low prices. Meeting professionals report a rise in food and beverage costs in many regions, and this increase leads to significant cut-backs in food and beverage offerings, the implementation of voucher and coupon systems, and buffets that run out of food for the last person.