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DESPITE the global slowdown, Indian employers are upbeat about hiring trends. The job market in India is expected to remain positive yet cautious in the third quarter of 2008, says Manpower’s employment outlook survey for Q3. Of the 32 countries and territories surveyed globally this quarter, employer hiring intentions continue to be robust in India with an overall net employment outlook (NEO) of 45%. The metrics is differential between the number of employers who expect employment to go up and those who expect it to go down.
The global slowdown has impacted the traditionally top countries in the quarterly survey like Singapore and Peru which follow India closely at second and third spot with NEO of 42% and 40% respectively. Overall, the Q3 survey represents an increase of 6% points quarter-over-quarter and a 7% points increase year-over-year.
Employers in the services sector are notably optimistic about adding employees in the next three months. “While employers in India continue to show optimism in their hiring intent, the impact of US slowdown has started showing its impact on mid-size companies especially in the IT and ITeS domain, says Naresh Malhan, MD, Manpower India. “Given high dependence of some of these sectors on the US economy, companies are increasingly taking a cautious route when it comes to rolling out offers with majority of recruitment now being largely based on work requirement of the firms.”
The services sector is the most optimistic with an outlook of 59%. Public administration & education employers indicate the weakest hiring intentions with a NEO of 25%. Finance, insurance & real-estate industry are considerably stronger quarter-overquarter with an increase of 12% points. Manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade (both 30%) have reported moderate dips of 6% and 5% points respectively.
The study notes some significant changes in the hiring intentions amongst employers in India compared with the same period in 2007. Year-over-year comparisons reveal increase in outlooks by employers in four of seven industry sectors, with largest increase (up 20% points) reported in the finance, insurance and real estate and services sector (up 17% points).