Indian firms to hire more in Q2

Indian employers are second most likely to hire more employees in the world after Japan in the second quarter of 2006, according to a survey by global recruitment consultancy firm Manpower.

"Compared to the last quarter, when only 27 per cent of Indian employers expressed overall positive net employment outlook, this time around it is more than 40 per cent. We are just behind Japan, which is at 43 per cent," Manpower Services India Pvt Ltd Executive Chairman Soumenr Basu said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

He said Manpower's global survey covered 24 countries and all showed positive outlook in employment, except for Italy which showed a negative one per cent.

Taiwan, Peru, New Zealand and Hong Kong are other notable countries, which reported strong outlook for hiring in the second quarter of this year, as per the survey.

According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which took response from 4,515 companies across India, including big corporate houses, MNCs and small and medium enterprises, 42 per cent of the respondents expected staffing levels to increase while 44 per cent expected no changes.

In India, the study covered seven sectors -- manufacturing, mining and construction, wholesale and retail, transport and utilities, public administration and education, services, and finance insurance and real estate.

"Of the seven sectors, transport and utilities sector reported the most optimistic outlook at 46 per cent," he said, adding the government policies of modernising airports, ports and giving impetus on infrastructure development has an impact on the outlook of the companies in the sector.

According to the Manpower survey, the services sector with 42 per cent net employment outlook was the second most optimistic sector followed by manufacturing, and mining and construction sectors at 40 per cent.

While finance, insurance and real estate had a new employment outlook of 39 per cent, wholesale and retail trade had 33 per cent.

The public administration and education sector was the lowest with 31 per cent.

In terms of regional trend, the survey said companies in South India were more optimistic reporting a new employment outlook of 46 per cent, followed by West with 39 per cent, North and East at 37 per cent each.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Basu said, "Overall the employment outlook of the companies reflect the buoyancy of the Indian economy."

Compared to the last quarter, this time around there is a huge growth in expectations across the board, which augurs well for the overall growth of the Indian economy, he added.

• Find the job you want! Click here!

Do you want to discuss stock tips? Do you know a hot one? Join the Stock Market Discussion Group.