Manpower’s latest Employment Outlook Survey, released on 10 March, shows that employers in the Asia Pacific region expect labour market conditions to deteriorate at a surprisingly rapid rate. Of the eight countries and territories surveyed in the Asia Pacific region, India is showing more positive intentions than any other country, but the expected hiring pace is still much weaker than that of prior years. Employers in Singapore, New Zealand and Taiwan expect the deepest cuts to their payrolls compared to three months ago.        

The survey of nearly 72,000 employers worldwide conducted by Manpower Inc., shows that employers in 13 of 33 countries and territories still expect some positive hiring activity in the coming quarter; however, hiring expectations are considerably weaker in all countries and territories surveyed compared to this time last year. In fact, employers in 23 countries and territories are reporting their weakest hiring plans since the surveys were established there by Manpower.

“Hiring forecasts from all of the G7 countries are notably weaker compared to 12 months ago confirming that the global labour market will continue to contract – only outlooks from employers in Canada and Germany have not slipped into negative territory,” says Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman and CEO of Manpower Inc.

“Meanwhile, hiring patterns in the U.S. have declined to those seen during the recession of 1982, yet a significant number of employers surveyed anticipate no change in their employment intentions. This tells us that in this difficult economic environment, employers are struggling to manage the tension between generating a profit and maintaining their workforce infrastructure.
    
Manpower reports that the caution that began to set in across Asia Pacific during the first three months of the year is expected to accelerate in the second quarter.

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