"The year 2008 will be more promising in terms of hiring with a net employment outlook of 42 per cent, a three per cent increase over last year," Manpower India managing director Naresh Malhan said.

Globally, Peru topped the list followed by Singapore in the second place and India grabbed the third spot with strongest hiring prospects for the first quarter of 2008, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey said.

Others countries on the list were -- Argentina, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia, Japan and Norway.

"Difficulty in recruiting and retaining talent continues to be a key issue for employers due to persistent talent shortage in India and Singapore," the survey based on interviews on nearly 52,000 employers worldwide noted.

In the Asia-Pacific region, India stood second on the employers' hiring intentions in Q1 2008 list led by Singapore and followed by Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

"In India, strong job prospects should continue in the construction sector, as the country continues to make infrastructure improvements to support future growth," Manpower Inc chairman and CEO Jeffery A Joerres said.

While hirings in services sector might lessen as the busy holiday retail season in the US and the UK is leading to drop in demand of call centre services, Jorres said.

Employers in India hold more positive hiring intention for next year as compared to 2007, the survey based on interviews of 5,163 employers from India said.

Of the 5,163 employers surveyed, 43 per cent expect an increase in staffing levels in the first quarter of 2008, 1 per cent anticipate a decrease, and 45 per cent are expecting no change.

"Salaries will continue to rise as there will be a war for talent between companies to grab the best of manpower out of the limited pool present. Unless manpower supply meets the demand there will be no change in this trend" Malhan adds.
Methods like no-poaching agreements would not help in bringing down attrition levels as majority participation would not be witnessed in such initiatives, more so in the specialised services sector, Malhan said.

"The rupee appreciation is having an affect on the IT and ITeS sectors, they will respond by implementing more efficiency measures. Many of them will implement a six-day week schedule which will increase the production by 16 per cent," Malhan said.

Also, these sectors will reduce the bench-size to increase the production to minimise the losses witnessed due to the rupee rise, Malhan said.

Employment outlook for six of the seven industry sectors covered were reported to be positive during the first quarter next year, manufacturing being the only sector with no change in hiring activity being revealed (38 per cent).

Hiring outlook will be most positive in mining and construction (49 per cent) followed by the services sector (45 per cent), finance, insurance and real estate (42 per cent), retail (41 per cent), transportation (40 per cent) and public administration and education sectors (38 per cent), the survey said.

Employers in all four regions in India anticipate positive hiring intentions across industry sectors. While employers in the West anticipate brisk hiring activity with employment outlook at 43 per cent, employers in the North and the South both anticipate booming outlooks at 41 per cent, prospects being weakest in East at 35 per cent, the Manpower said.

Globally in addition to India, the strongest first quarter hiring prospects are expected in Peru, Singapore, Argentina, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia, Japan and Norway whereas employers in Ireland are reported the have the least optimistic hiring plans, the survey said.