Indian companies are the most optimistic on hiring plans for April-June 2010, with the organised sector expected to create close to a million new jobs in FY11, driven by a revival in economic growth and strong job opportunities, according to two global employment trend surveys.
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The quarterly Employment Outlook Survey conducted by HR consulting firm Manpower showed two in every five Indian companies plan to increase their headcount in the second quarter of 2010. A separate survey by HR Services provider Ma Foi Management Consultants showed companies are optimistic about FY11, but are treading with caution in the April-June quarter.
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The Manpower study pegged India’s net employment outlook (NEO) at 39 for the second quarter, an improvement of four percentage points compared to the previous quarter. The survey covered over 5,300 employers across 30 cities in the country.
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Hiring intentions were highest in the services sector, with an NEO of 48%. Within the sector, employers in the finance, insurance, real estate segments have reported an NEO of 41, an increase of 4 percentage points over the previous quarter. The services sector had witnessed the biggest jump in hiring intent last quarter too, up 20 points over the previous survey. The weakest hiring pace is reported by employers in the transportation & utilities sector (28%).
Employers in the manufacturing sector (38%) report substantial improvements in their quarter-over-quarter hiring outlook. Positive hiring intentions can also be seen in sectors like public administration & education and wholesale trade & retail sector with an outlook of 32. However, hiring intention has decreased marginally in both these sectors compared to the previous survey.
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Compared with April-June 2009, employers in all seven industry sectors anticipate a stronger hiring pace for Q2’10, the survey said. On a year-on-year basis, improvements are reported by employers in the services sector (up 22 points), finance, insurance & real estate sector (up 21 points), and mining & construction sector (up 20 points).
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Companies in all four regions in the country expect year-over-year hiring activity to improve considerably. Employers in various regions — East (42%), West (40%) and South (40%) report the country’s strongest hiring expectations.
The study also pointed out that employers in 27 of 36 countries surveyed expect some positive hiring activity in the second quarter. The number of countries with negative overall hiring intent has halved from 18 in the previous survey.
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Besides India, economies like Brazil (38), Taiwan (33) , Costa Rica (23), Peru (23), Australia (22) and Singapore (20) are among those reporting strong intent to hire. China reported an NEO of 14 for the second quarter this year. On the other hand, hiring plans were weakest in Italy, Spain and Ireland for the April-June period.
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The survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter.
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The Ma Foi survey, on its part, said the financial sector has learnt its lessons from the slowdown and is looking to hire over 46,000 people in 2010, while the private healthcare sector, which survived the slump, is expected to add 2.95 lakh jobs.
source : economic times
