Trend analysis means studying variations in your firm’s employment levels over the last few years. It is a quantitative approach that attempts to forecast future personnel needs based on extrapolating information from historical changes in one or more organizational indices. For example, you might compute the number of employees at the end of each of the last 5 years, or perhaps the number in each sub group (like sales, production, secretarial, and administrative). The aim is to identify trends that might continue into the future.
Trend analysis can provide an initial estimate of future staffing needs, but employment levels rarely depend just on the passage of time. Other factors (like changes in sales volume and productivity) also affect staffing needs.
Trend Analysis is a study of a firm's past employment needs over a period of years to predict future needs.