New research finds that South African employers’ hiring plans for the third quarter remain rather bleak, with only Gauteng Province showing any real positive outlook for the period.<\/p>\n
This is according to findings from the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the third quarter 2013, which was conducted by interviewing a representative sample of 750 employers in South Africa.<\/p>\n
According to staffing solutions provider, Manpower<\/a>, 8% of employers expect to increase staffing levels, 9% forecast a decrease, while 81% anticipate no change, with the resulting net employment outlook at -1%.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the Outlook stands at 0%,\u201d Manpower said.<\/p>\n However, quarter-over-quarter, hiring prospects weakened by 3 percentage points, and the Outlook declines by 5 percentage points year-over-year.<\/p>\n Regional comparisons<\/strong><\/p>\n In regional comparisons, Employers anticipate payroll gains in two of the five regions during 3Q 2013, with Net Employment Outlooks standing at +4% and +1% in Gauteng and Free State, respectively.<\/p>\n However, employers report subdued hiring prospects in Western Cape, with an Outlook of -2%, and in both Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal, where Outlooks stand at -1%.<\/p>\n Quarter-over-quarter, employer hiring intentions weaken by 6 percentage points in Eastern Cape and by 2 percentage points in Western Cape.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Gauteng employers report a 5 percentage point outlook improvement.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the Kwazulu Natal Outlook remains relatively stable and hiring prospects are unchanged in Free State.<\/p>\n Based on unadjusted survey data, employers report negative Outlooks in four of the five regions, with the weakest hiring prospects evident in Eastern Cape and Western Cape.<\/p>\n Hiring intentions decline in three regions quarter-over-quarter and four regions year-over-year.<\/p>\n Sector comparisons<\/strong><\/p>\n Employers in five of the 10 industry sectors expect to trim payrolls during 3Q 2013. The weakest hiring prospects are reported in the Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry & Fishing sector and the Restaurants & Hotels sector, with Net Employment Outlooks of -8% and -7%, respectively.<\/p>\n Muted hiring plans are also reported in the Manufacturing sector, with an Outlook of -4%, and in the Transport, Storage & Communication sector, where the Outlook is -3%.<\/p>\n However, employers in four sectors expect to increase staffing levels, most notably in the Mining & Quarrying sector and the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate & Business Services sector, where Outlooks stand at +8% and +5%, respectively.<\/p>\n Global outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n Manpower Group interviewed nearly 66,000 hiring managers across 42 countries and territories to measure employer hiring expectations.<\/p>\n The staffing group said that emerging markets again headed the pack with employers in Taiwan, Brazil, Panama, Peru and Turkey reporting the strongest hiring expectations globally.<\/p>\n The weakest markets for job seekers are expected in Italy, Ireland and Spain.<\/p>\n Employers in 31 countries and territories surveyed said they plan to boost payrolls in the coming quarter, compared with 32 of 42 in Q2.<\/p>\n Hiring optimism strengthens quarter-over-quarter in 17 countries and territories but weaken in 21. When compared with one year ago at this time, outlooks improve in 14 countries and\u00a0territories but decline in 26.<\/p>\n Competition heats up for IT, telecoms jobs<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on South African employment<\/h3>\n