Employers hiring intentions for Q2 ‘steady’



Hiring projections for second quarter 2011 has been described as ‘steady’ by recruitment giant Manpower.

The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey involving more than 1,900 employers shows a seasonally adjusted figure of +21% for the nation.

With the exception of Queensland employers, who were omitted from the Q2 survey as research was being conducted during the state’s flooding crisis, the number of employers planning to increase hiring has remained relatively stable in comparison to Q.1.

Meanwhile, the percentage of employers planning to decrease headcount has dropped from seven per cent in Q1 to 6 percent for Q2.

Managing Director of Manpower Australia & New Zealand Lincoln Crawley says the Q2 forecast is an improvement.

“The Net Employment Outlook is just one percentage point weaker than the same time last year (+22%), and worlds away from the gloomy outlook in Q2 of 2009, when the Outlook was -1%,” Mr Crawley says.

Victorian employers are the most optimistic, with a Net Employment Outlook of +26% (up from +23% last quarter).

Tasmanian employer confidence has taken a hit, with the Net Employment Outlook falling to +3% (down from +14% last quarter).

 “It’s good to see that employer hiring plans in NSW remain strong, with a Net Employment Outlook of +21%, despite the political uncertainty in the lead-up to the March state election,” Mr Crawley says.

Looking across industry sectors 37 per cent of Mining & Construction employers plan to increase headcount in Q2 off set by the highest proportion of employers planning to decrease headcount at 8 per cent.

Mr Crawley’s advice to candidates in the mining and construction sector is to be  “flexible, agile and willing to move to where the work is.”

“Employers, on the other hand, need to ensure they have strategies in place to attract this highly mobile and in-demand workforce.”  

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey also suggests that the Services sector is the quiet achiever of the national labour market, with a seasonally adjusted NEO of +28%. It is on par with the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector, where one third of employers plan to increase their hiring next quarter, also giving the sector a seasonally adjusted NEO of +28%.