Amid the economic gloom at home and abroad, there is some cause for cheer in the New Year. Indian employers are expected to go in for “vigorous” hiring in the first three months of 2012, says a survey by global workforce solutions company, Manpower.
“Indian employers’ outlook is the most optimistic among all the 41 countries surveyed,” says the new Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, released on Tuesday, adding that the optimism is led by the services sector.
With a net employment outlook -- an indicator of hiring intentions -- of +41 per cent, Indian employers are the most bullish about their recruitment plans for the first three months of 2012. The survey covered 65,000 employers worldwide.
“Notwithstanding the uncertainties in global markets, hiring plans are bouncing back after a slight decline in the final quarter of 2011…The trend is being led by IT, banking and manufacturing companies, especially MNCs and large national firms,” said Mr Sanjay Pandit, Managing Director, Manpower India.
Reflecting better labour market conditions, the survey found an improvement in hiring outlook in six out of seven industry sectors in India for the March 2012 quarter, compared with the previous three months.
Services reported the strongest hiring plans at +49 per cent, followed by +47 per cent in the mining and construction sector. Employers in the finance, insurance and real estate sector expect hiring to go up by +44 per cent.
Interestingly, the wholesale and retail trade sector showed the weakest hiring intentions among all sector, at + 30 per cent. Recently, the Government put on hold 51 per cent FDI in the retail sector.
While employers across all the four regions of India were optimistic about hiring, the outlook was found to be the lowest in the Northern region.
Globally, the survey showed positive hiring intentions in 31 out of 41 countries, with the strongest trends in India, Brazil, Taiwan, Panama and Turkey.
The weakest intentions were reported from Greece, Hungary and Italy, where a greater percentage of employers were planning to trim payrolls, the survey said.