The job market in India is expected to remain vibrant in the third quarter of 2007 according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
Employers in all eight countries and territories surveyed across the Asia Pacific region anticipate positive hiring activity for the third quarter. However, only Indian employers anticipate an outlook stronger than the previous quarter.
Of the 27 countries and territories surveyed globally this quarter, hiring intentions continue to be robust in India, with an overall net employment outlook of plus 39 per cent. This represents an increase of 8 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and a 4 percentage point decrease year-over-year.
As many as 4,925 employers were surveyed in India across seven sectors finance, insurance and real estate, manufacturing, mining and construction, public administration and education services, transport and utilities, wholesale and retail trade.
Nearly 42 per cent of the respondents expect an increase in hiring activity in the third quarter of 2007, 3 per cent anticipate a decrease, while 42 per cent are expecting no change.
The net employment outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location over the next quarter.
Soumen Basu, executive chairman, Manpower India, said: "Robust hiring intentions across sectors can be attributed to businesses gaining momentum around this time of the year, which is quite a cyclical process. Additionally, the completion of appraisals in most Indian companies amplifies the hiring activities, as workers are more willing to change jobs."
For the ninth consecutive quarter, employers across all seven industry sectors in India have reported positive hiring intentions. According to the survey, the strongest will be the services sector, indicating an increase of 46 per cent. It is also expected to report the strongest increase in net employment outlook, by 13 percentage points.
Further, in this quarter, employers in the manufacturing sector at 40 per cent increase and transport and utilities sector at 38 per cent increase, are anticipating a 12 percentage point stronger hiring capacity.
According to the survey, the weakest will be the public administration and education industry sector,with a net employment outlook of 27 per cent. This sector similarly reports the largest decline of 6 percentage points in hiring intentions, quarter-over-quarter.
Regionally, quarter-over-quarter hiring activity is anticipated to strengthen in three of the four Indian regions, with a slight decrease in hiring intentions reported in the North by 2 percentage points. Employers in the South and West anticipate booming hiring intentions of 44 per cent and 41 per cent.
A quarter-on-quarter comparison showed that among the overall positive hiring intentions, the strongest outlook is observed among employers in the services sector (+46 per cent), which is an increase of 13 percentage points quarter-over-quarter.
Employers' intentions to hire in the public administration and education industry sector (+27 per cent) are moderately weaker by 6 percentage points since the previous quarter of 2007.
Further, in this quarter employers in the manufacturing (+40 per cent) and transport and utilities (+38 per cent) sectors anticipate a 12 percentage point stronger hiring environment.
Employers in the mining and construction sector forecast a slight dip of 3 percentage points (+37per cent), while employers in the wholesale and retail trade sector (+38 per cent) reported a much stronger outlook that was up 10 percentage points.
Employers in the finance/insurance/real estate sector reported an improvement of 13 percentage points in their Net Employment Outlook over the last quarter.
