About half as many Fairfax County employers plan to increase their staff next quarter as did for the same period last year, according to a survey released by a staffing firm this week.

Of the companies surveyed, 17 percent said they plan tohire more employees, while 7 percent indicated they would shrink their staffs in the third quarter of 2006, the Manpower Inc. survey showed. Last year, 40 percent of companies surveyed planned to add employees, and 13 percent said they would pare back.