The Hindu Business Line : Indian employers among most optimistic on hiring: Survey

New Delhi, March 11 The Indian job market is expected to be vibrant and employers are positive about hiring in the April-June quarter compared with the corresponding period a year ago, but see it declining from the first three months of 2008, according to Manpower Inc survey.

Of the 32 countries and territories surveyed globally this quarter, hiring intentions among Indian employers continue to be among the most optimistic in the world with an overall net employment outlook of 36 per cent for the second quarter.

At least 5,279 employers across seven sectors participated in the survey. The net employment outlook is the difference between the percentage of employers expecting employment to rise and those expecting a fall.

This is six percentage points below the figure for the first quarter, but five percentage points above that seen in the same period of 2007, the survey said.

Mr Naresh Malhan, Managing Director of Manpower India, said the number for India was second only to that for Singapore, where the outlook stood at 62 for the quarter. The year-on-year rise was one of the largest in the 32 countries surveyed, he said.

Hiring pace

“Indian employers continue to be positive yet increasingly cautious about their hiring intentions. The softening of the hiring pace for the second quarter can be attributed to uncertainty in some of the leading economies across the world resulting in volatility in equity markets, commodity prices, and exchange rates. In view of this, employers in India are placing more focus on increasing efficiency and productivity of employees in order to remain competitive in the market rather than on increasing staff strength,” he added.

The mining and construction sector is the most upbeat on hiring, with a net of 42 per cent of employers saying they saw more hiring in April-June compared with the first quarter.

services sector

The services sector, which includes IT and IT-enabled services, came second with a net 40 per cent seeing expanded hiring. In the finance, insurance and real estate sector, the figure was 39 per cent

The outlook projected a steepest decline in hiring for the wholesale and retail trade industry sector.

Employers in all four regions in the country anticipate varied hiring intentions across industry sectors. Employers in the South expect the most robust hiring pace (39 per cent), while North anticipates brisk hiring activity of (36 per cent) and West at (35 per cent).

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