Employment outlook at seven-year high, strong rebound in hiring in December quarter: ManpowerGroup survey

Hiring activity is expected to witness a strong rebound  in the fourth quarter (December quarter) with employers reporting the most optimistic hiring outlook in 7 years, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey.

As many as 64 percent of the 3,046 employers surveyed indicated increasing their headcounts before the end of the year, expecting pandemic restrictions to ease and demand for products and services to rise. This is a big jump from only 6 percent of companies with the intention to hire in the July-September quarter.

About 20 percent of companies reported a decrease in the workforce whereas 15 percent expect no change. Only 1 percent of the companies were unsure about the hiring sentiment in the December quarter against 44 percent in the July - September quarter.

Net employment outlook, which is the difference between companies looking to hire and those expecting a fall in headcount stood at 44 percent, compared with 5 percent in the July September quarter.

An increase in payrolls is forecasted for all seven industry sectors during the coming quarter. The strongest year-on-year improvements are reported in Services (51 percent), Manufacturing (43 percent) and Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (41 percent).

Region-wise trends show that the strongest hiring pace is anticipated in the West at a net employment outlook of 49 percent followed by an outlook of 45 percent in the east, 43 percent in the north and 37 percent for the south.