Job creation: Intent to hire at its lowest in many months

A survey by Manpower showed that companies in India are reporting a ‘bright’ hiring prospect in the July to September 2016 quarter. However, at a hiring forecast of 35%, this is also the meekest forecast in a year.

The report said, “The Outlook is the weakest reported since 1Q 2014, declining by 3 percentage points both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.”

According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey dated June 14, 2016, that surveyed 5,100 employers across India, around 35% hiring is expected in the July-September period.  The latest hiring outlook is lower by 3% than its previous quarter, wherein the survey had predicted 39% hiring for the April-June period. The hiring forecast in January to March 2015 was at 41%, followed by 42% and 37% in October to December 2015 and July to September 2015, respectively. 

The survey was conducted among three-sized companies namely- Small, Medium and Large. 

Medium-size employers are forecast to report net employment growth of plus 38% during July-September period, followed by small-size with plus 35% and large-size by plus 32%. 

ManpowerGroup survey noted that three regions out of four are forecast to report a decline in hiring outlook during the July-September period as compared to previous quarter. 

North region is predicted to forecast growth of plus 37% during the period. East is the only region which is expected to report a marginal growth of over 26% during the quarter. Employment outlook in the South is expected to witness growth of 31%. However, hiring intentions are considerably weaker both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, declining by 10 and 9 percentage points, respectively, the survey said. 

For the West region, the employment outlook is expected to touch plus 35% but the hiring intentions are 3% weaker both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. 

Employers from the Services sector are predicted to report hiring of plus 44% during the period. Transportation and Utilities sector to report plus 38% hiring, followed by plus 34% hiring in both Finance, Insurance and Real Estate and Manufacturing sector. 
 
“When compared with the previous quarter, employers report weaker hiring intentions in four of the seven industry sectors. The most noteworthy decline of 10 percentage points is reported in the Mining and Construction sector, while Outlooks are 9 and 8 percentage points weaker in the Public Administration and Education sector and the Manufacturing sector, respectively," cited the survey.