Manpower Employment Outlook Survey: Q2 2013

SINGAPORE, (12 March 2013) – According to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results released today by Manpower Singapore, the hiring pace  in Quarter 2 in 2013 is expected to moderately improve from the first quarter forecast. After removing seasonal variations from survey data, Singapore’s Net Employment Outlook also stands positive at +17%. Hiring intentions soften by 3 percentage points year-over-year.

“Asia has remained resilient despite the global economic turbulence. As organizations take on expansion plans in the APAC region, opportunities for job seekers here brighten with 24% of employers in Singapore indicating that they intend to increase headcount. However, with tighter foreign worker policies, this will continue to put a squeeze on the manpower crunch,” said Linda Teo, Country Manager of Manpower Singapore. 

Employers in all seven industry sectors expect to increase payrolls during quarter 2. The most optimistic hiring plans are reported in the Public Administration & Education sector and the Services sector, with Net Employment Outlooks of +38% and +37%, respectively. Elsewhere, an active labour market is anticipated in the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector, where the Outlook stands at +23% and cautiously optimistic hiring intentions are reported in both the Manufacturing sector and the Wholesale Trade & Retail Trade sector, with Outlooks of +10% and +9%, respectively.

“The robust second-quarter Outlook reported by employers in the Services sector is not very surprising, especially following government reports that vacancies in the sector account for approximately three quarters of job openings. As persistent talent shortages become more pronounced, and for organizations to remain competitive, employers must adopt long-term workforce strategies aligned with their business strategy to replace ‘just in time’ hiring as their main focus. Employers must instead think more long-term. “On-demand” talent will simply no longer be readily available,” said Ms. Linda Teo, Country Manager of Manpower Singapore.

Quarter-over-quarter, employers in four of the seven industry sectors report weaker hiring prospects. The Mining & Construction sector Outlook declines by 12 percentage points, while employers in the Transportation & Utilities sector report an 8 percentage point decrease. However, hiring prospects strengthen in three sectors, most notably by a steep margin of 27 percentage points in the Services sector. Public Administration & Education sector employers report an improvement of 16 percentage points.

Hiring Prospects weaken across the region

Hiring plans in Taiwan are slightly weaker than they were in Q1 2013 and last year at this time, but employers continue to anticipate a brisk hiring pace in the next three months fueled by demand in the Mining & Construction sector where more than half of the employers surveyed said they planned to add to their payrolls in the second quarter. The research reveals bright prospects also await job seekers in the Services sector. Opportunities for job seekers are expected to improve slightly from the prior quarter in both India and China, but are unchanged in Japan. 

The next Manpower Employment Outlook Survey will be released on 11 June 2013 to report hiring expectations for the third quarter of 2013.  The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is available free of charge to the public through their local Manpower representative in participating countries.  To receive e-mail notification when the survey is available each quarter, interested individuals are invited

to complete an online subscription form at: http://investor.manpower.com/investors/alerts.cfm.

Results for all 42 countries and territories can be viewed in the new interactive Manpower Employment Outlook Survey Explorer tool at http://manpowergroupsolutions.com/DataExplorer/.

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Note to Editors

Commentary is based on seasonally adjusted data where available. Full survey results and all charts and tables for each of the 42 countries and territories included in this quarter’s survey, plus regional and global comparisons, can be found in the ManpowerGroup Press Room at www.manpowergroup.com/meos. In addition, all tables and graphs from the full report are available to be downloaded for use in publication or broadcast from the ManpowerGroup Web site.