Manpower: Job outlook ‘active’

“That suggests we might get softer job gains later this year”, Bank of Montreal economist Benjamin Reitzes wrote in a client note.

Although the global outlook is uneven, the firm’s latest employment outlook survey shows USA firms are the most upbeat since the final quarter of 2007, with 21% of the 11,000 employers surveyed saying they anticipated increasing staffing levels.

Indian employers have the most optimistic hiring plans for the October-December quarter, driven by government’s increased focus on ease of doing business, a ManpowerGroup survey says. Of the more than 650 employers surveyed across New Zealand, a record breaking 79% indicated they would make no change to their current headcount.

“As they have throughout most of this year, employers in the construction sector reported the strongest hiring intentions”, Ana Gabriela Chaverri, Manpower’s Costa Rica manager, said at the study presentation.

The net employment outlook in Auckland was stable at 14 per cent while Wellington’s net employment outlook increased 3 percentage points to 12 per cent. Large employers report the strongest hiring intentions with a net employment outlook of +20%, while the outlook for medium employers stands at +10%. This is 5 percentage points stronger than in Q3, and 13 percentage points higher year-on-year. At 0%, employment prospects in the North West stand at their lowest level in more than two years, and well below the national average of +4%. Employers in Cartago also reported good figures with a positive expectation of 16 percent. This uncertainty, she says, demands the substantial cooperation of all parties involved in the development of constructive policies to prevent this 26 percent from joining the 18 percent that expect layoffs in their companies. Meanwhile, Mining & Quarrying sector employers anticipate a decline in staffing levels, reporting an Outlook of -4%. “Reports of impending water shortages across the country are also fueling growth within the Water Supply sector”.

Job prospects are principally constructive in Europe, however employer projections have turned unfavorable in Greece, and stay damaging in Italy for the 19th consecutive quarter, the survey stated.

Manpower queried 59,000 employers in 42 nations and territories between July 7 and 17, a number of weeks earlier than the markets started reacting in mid-August to perceived issues within the Chinese language financial system. However, hiring prospects improve in four sectors.

Across the globe, employers in India and Taiwan report the strongest hiring plans, while employer confidence in Japan is growing steadily with job seekers likely to benefit from the most optimistic forecast reported since the first quarter of 2008.

This chart shows hiring intentions fizzling in recent quarters. However, evidence of definitive fourth-quarter workforce gains remains patchy amid signs that the pace of recovery following the recession continues to be slow and protracted.