About 3150 employers from India were asked about their hiring intentions for the fourth quarter, so that the net employment outlook or NEO could be calculated. The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey reveals that India’s NEO is 37 per cent. This has grown stronger (by 7 per cent) since the last quarter, but remains unchanged compared to the same period last year.
Sectorwise, the highest hiring demand was seen in the finance and real-estate space, followed by information technology (IT).
Asia-Pacific countries expect the second strongest regional outlook of 27 per cent. While this is four per cent higher than the last quarter, it is five per cent lower than during the same time last year.
Within the Asia-Pacific region, the highest hiring intention is expressed by India (37 per cent), followed by Singapore (29 per cent) and China (27 per cent). Hong Kong shows the weakest hiring intention.
The strongest hiring intention, of 64 per cent, is seen in Singapore’s financials and real-estate space.
As per The 2024 India Talent Shortage report by the ManpowerGroup , most (73 per cent)of the communication services organisations admit it is tough to find skilled talent. The NEO for the communications services industry is 28 per cent, an increase of 11 per cent from the previous quarter and a drop of six per cent from last year.
The energy and utilities sector shows an NEO of 34 per cent, which is two per cent more than the previous quarter and two per cent less than the same time last year.
A whopping 80 per cent of the consumer goods and services employers find it challenging to obtain quality, skilled talent as per their requirements. The NEO for the employers in this sector was 35 per cent, which is seven per cent more than the last quarter and six per cent less than it was for the same period last year.
A majority (79%) of the employers in the financials and real-estate space say it is difficult to find skilled talent. The NEO for employers of this sector is 47 per cent, an eight per cent increase from the last quarter and a ten per cent increase from the same period last year.
In the healthcare and life sciences space too, a majority (79 per cent) of the employers are struggling to find good talent. The NEO for this sector is 30 per cent, which is six per cent less than the last quarter and 12 per cent less than the same time last year.
Similar difficulty in finding talent is reported by 79 per cent of the employers in the industrials and materials sector. The NEO is 36 per cent, six per cent higher than the last quarter and same as last year.
Surprisingly, 86 per cent of the employers in the IT space report challenges when it comes to finding skilled talent. The net employment outlook for this sector is 46 per cent, which is 11 per cent more than the last quarter and two per cent more than last year.
Compared to the previous quarter, the overall, hiring expectations remain positive across sectors showing an increase of five per cent in the North of India, five per cent in South India, nine per cent in the eastern part and eight per cent more in the western region of the country. The hiring intention of 41 per cent in the North is a one per cent increase compared to the last year. In the South and the East, the outlook has dropped slightly by one per cent and four per cent, respectively from last year. The outlook of 39 per cent in western India remains unchanged.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Net Employment Outlook is obtained by subtracting the percentage of employers expecting a dip in hiring from the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity.