What Recession? Manhattan Assoc. Goes on Hiring Binge

August 23, 2011 Alex Woodie

Manhattan Associates is looking to hire about 100 people–including more than a dozen with IBM i and RPG skills–as part of an on-going expansion. The logistics software developer, whose IBM i-based warehouse management system sets the standard for the industry, has hired more than 300 people worldwide this year, and reported record revenue as other vendors struggle.

In a recent interview with the Atlanta, Georgia, TV news station WSB-TV, Manhattan’s CEO and president Pete Sinisgalli explained his growth strategy and plans for expansion.

“We made a decision during the recession that we’re going to continue to invest for the future, try to get out in front of the competition during a time that most companies had to retrench,” he told reporter Lori Geary.

Sinisgalli also took a dig at Washington, DC, politics, and hinted that profits would have been even better if politicians could get their acts together. You can see the complete 2-minute story at www.manh.com/library/manhattan-announces-100-job-openings.

Political turmoil or not, Manhattan has been on a roll lately. The Atlanta-based company reported results for its second quarter ended June 30 about a month ago, and the results were great. The company set a record for non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings of $0.65 per share, up from $.042 a year ago. On a GAAP basis, earnings were $.57 per share, up from $.36 a year ago.

“Our second quarter results were strong in essentially all areas,” Sinisgalli stated in the earnings release. Strong spending by Manhattan’s blue-chip customer base caused the company to raise its outlook for the rest of the year.

Of course, this upgrade was made before Washington politics gave Wall Street the jitters in early August, leading to double-digit drops in major stock indices. The per-share price of MANH rode the downward wave, declining from a late-July high around $38–the highest share price since April 2002–to $33 late last week.

But clearly there’s a bullish trend at Manhattan, as evidenced 100 job postings listed on its website. The dozen strictly IBM i-related jobs include seven positions for software analysts for WMiS (its IBM i-based warehouse management system), and four others that request RPG experience.

The company–which has expanded considerably from its days as a WMS vendor and today offers an entire suite of supply chain planning solutions–is also looking to hire people with experience in C++, .NET, Java, J#, Linux, Windows, Oracle database, SQL Server, and Windows Mobile technologies. It had 1,925 employees at the end of 2010, including about 900 working overseas.