Manpower’s quarterly employment outlook survey, which tracks confidence in the jobs market, found respondents at their most positive since the third quarter of 2013.
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“After a year of above average hiring intentions in the East, it’s great news for the region that this trend is set to continue into the New Year”.
Nationally, the net employment outlook is 17 percent after seasonal variations are removed from the data. South Australia remains stable quarter-on-quarter with employers recording an Outlook of + three per cent.
Next year’s first quarter is shaping up to be a bit better for job seekers than this year was. The Outlook in the South-West region strengthened by 6 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to +9%, while the Outlook in the North-East region weakened by 9 percentage points to +4%.
The national seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook has jumped two percentage points to +7% as companies ramp up hiring plans going into the New Year. Of the employers surveyed, 81 per cent expect their current staffing levels to remain the same, while the remaining three per cent are unsure about their hiring intentions for this quarter, it said.
Twenty-one percent of employers are expected to hire, and 8 percent are expected to reduce workers in the January through March period, according to Manpower Inc. Gauteng employers report a decrease of 3 percentage points while Outlooks are 2 percentage points weaker in both Free State and Kwazulu Natal.
“A continuous drop in sales in the retail industry has slowed hiring among employers in this sector, where overall growth of inbound tourism has decreased and is impacting Hong Kong’s retail industry”, Chui said. Finance, insurance and real estate; public administration and education; and wholesale and retail trade are expecting 45 percent of hiring.
“There is a general consensus that here in the North West we are particularly lacking in workers proficient in STEM subjects with our own surveys finding that around 43 per cent of firms looking for staff with these skills have had difficulties recruiting with many of them saying the situation is getting worse”. In Europe, employers in the United Kingdom and Germany anticipate increased hiring, and employers in Italy report their first positive hiring expectations since Quarter 1 2011, all of which points to opportunities for growth going into 2016.
Participating employers are categorized into one of four organization sizes: Micro businesses have less than 10 employees; Small businesses have 10-49 employees; Medium businesses have 50-249 employees; and Large businesses have 250 or more employees.
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The Manpower results for the Toledo area are on par with what was expected early this year and is in line with the survey’s national and OH employer expectations.
