The strongest fourth-quarter hiring prospects reported globally were in Peru, India, Singapore, Costa Rica, Argentina, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Hong Kong. Italian employers again reported the least robust hiring plans globally. Employers in 11 countries and territories are reporting improved hiring plans compared to the third quarter, while job prospects are expected to improve in 14 countries on a year-over-year basis. The quarterly survey by Manpower Inc. is the world's most extensive forward-looking employment survey, with interviews of nearly 52,000 employers worldwide.
"The softening reported across Asia Pacific in the third quarter appears to be short lived in some countries, such as India and Japan, where employers expect to accelerate hiring in the next three months. However, in China, the hiring pace is expected to slow slightly. European labor markets are expected to remain positive, with German and Norwegian employers continuing to express notable optimism about adding to their payrolls," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc. "Adjusted data for the U.S. reveals the same steady hiring patterns seen over the past two quarters. The U.S. labor market is, again, affected by companies of all sizes being selective about their talent requirements."
Elsewhere in the Americas, employers in Peru, Costa Rica and Argentina are most optimistic about hiring in the next three months. Mexican employers continue to report strong hiring expectations, while the pace of hiring in Canada and the U.S. is expected to remain stable from the third quarter to the fourth, but be slightly slower compared to the fourth quarter of 2006.
"Mexican employers in the Construction sector anticipate strong hiring in the upcoming quarter, while their northern neighbors in this sector are less optimistic and expect to offer fewer jobs compared to this time last year," said Joerres. "The extremely positive results in Costa Rica and Peru continue to be bolstered, in part, by the Agriculture and Fishing sectors, where seasonality is driving demand for employees."
Of the countries surveyed in Europe, employers in Norway, Sweden, Spain and Germany are most optimistic about adding to their workforces. Hiring expectations in all of these countries increased moderately compared to the fourth quarter of 2006. In contrast, hiring optimism among Irish employers fell considerably from one year ago.
"We are seeing an uptick in year-over-year hiring plans by manufacturing employers among the majority of countries we survey in Europe. This is the case in Germany, where manufacturers reported the strongest fourth-quarter hiring projections and the overall labor market strength looks set to continue," said Joerres. "In contrast to the third quarter, year-over-year hiring intentions among transportation employers in this region fell in 10 of 13 countries as employers appear to be slowly putting the brakes on hiring."
Employers across the eight countries and territories surveyed across the Asia Pacific region are reporting varying degrees of positive hiring expectations. Employer optimism increased from the third quarter and one year ago in four of eight countries and territories surveyed. The strongest hiring plans were reported in India, Singapore, Japan and Australia, while employers in Taiwan and China reported the weakest hiring outlooks in the region.
"Indian employers are reporting their most optimistic hiring forecast since the survey began in this country, as employers in the Services sector anticipate boosting payrolls to handle holiday season demand from US and UK clients," said Joerres. "Similarly, Japanese employers are also reporting record hiring optimism -- particularly those in the Services and Finance/Insurance/Real Estate sectors -- where demand for talent is outstripping supply. We see the reverse in China, where employers across all industry sectors and regions are telling us that they will slow the pace of hiring from both the third quarter and last year."
