Employers illustrate caution in hiring intent for first quarter of 2023: Report

Hyderabad: The labour market is indicating cautious sentiments in the first quarter of 2023, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey released on Monday. It said 48% of employers expect to increase their staffing levels, 16% anticipate a decrease in hiring intent, and 34% do not anticipate any change.

This has resulted in a seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook of +32% which is the second in the APAC region alongside Australia, after Singapore which indicates 33%. When compared to the same period last year, hiring sentiments have weakened by 17% percentage points and 22 percentage points when compared to the last quarter, the report said.

Commenting on the findings, Sandeep Gulati, the managing director of ManpowerGroup India, opined, "Employers are cautious due to the impending recession and deepening global slowdown which also created a stir in the IT sector during the previous quarter. According to reports, 33% of Indian CEOs have implemented a hiring freeze. India may be impacted in the short term but in a country with the GDP net growth of 7%, the market is expected to see a balanced approach with growth in the tech sector and start-ups. Consolidation of smaller start-ups dovetailing into the larger ones coupled with a measured approach to funding is expected to be flavor driving the economy in 2023. However, with India all set to host the G20 leaders' summit for the first time, we expect a lot to change in the employment-related scenario in the course of the year."

He added, "Skill gap continues to be a major constraint in the hiring intent and until it is addressed by corporates and educational institutes' combined efforts, growth in the employment rate will be in single digit."

Hiring plans by region

Employers in all four regions expect to grow payrolls during the first quarter of 2023. The hiring pace in the north shows a strong hiring pace where the Net Employment Outlook stands at +36% followed by the west at +32% while the outlook for the south and east is +29% and +26%, respectively.

Hiring prospects weakened in all four regions when compared with the previous quarter and same time last year.

Hiring plans by industry

An increase in payrolls is forecast for all 11 industry sectors during the coming quarter. The IT and technology and finance and real estate sectors continue to report strong hiring intentions with a Net Employment Outlook of +39% followed by consumer goods and services (+37%). Transport, logistics and automotive indicate the lowest hiring intent with +22%, weakening by 17 percentage points year-over-year and 22 percentage points since last quarter owing to the skill gap.

Hiring plans by size

Indian hiring decision-makers in all four organisation sizes anticipate an increase in staffing levels in Q1 2023 with strongest intent depicted in the large organisation with over +250 employees and weakest in the micro organisations.

The report further said, hiring managers across APAC anticipate vigorous hiring intentions (+25%) with Singapore (+33%), Australia and India (+32%) reporting the strongest outlooks. Globally, the strongest hiring intentions in the financials and real estate sector are found in Singapore (57%), it said.