FW: Fw: Hiring in Asia hits 4-yr low: Hudson
HONG KONG - Job openings in Asia are at a four-year low as less than half of companies in major markets plan to hire in the next three months, a survey by recruitment firm Hudson showed on Wednesday.
Hong Kong, followed by Singapore, will see the sharpest slowdown, with only 32 per cent of survey respondents in the Chinese territory planning to hire this quarter, a five-year low. That is down from 42 per cent in a similar survey in the third quarter and 57 per cent in a second-quarter survey.
Hiring plans in China, Japan and Singapore are at their lowest level in four years and are probably worse still as a sell-off in financial markets has depressed business sentiment since the survey was taken in late August, Hudson said.
The survey by Chicago-based Hudson Highland Group covered responses from 2,600 managers at multinationals across industries in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.
Prospects in Hong Kong are being hurt by turmoil in the world's financial markets as the US-led credit crisis has spread globally.
However, even in China's still robust economy only 44 per cent of employers said they would take on more executives this quarter, compared with 55 per cent in a survey three months earlier and 64 per cent a year ago.
The drop was partly attributed to a period of heavy recruitment in the media/PR/advertising and consumer sectors ahead of the Beijing Olympics, Hudson said. Among banks in China, 50 per cent said they would hire this quarter, down from 64 per cent in the previous survey.
The slowdown was less pronounced in Japan where sentiment was already weak: 43 per cent of Japanese firms surveyed said they would be hiring this quarter, compared with 46 per cent in the previous quarter. Low consumer confidence is hurting the business outlook and just 24 per cent of companies in the consumer sector said they would add headcount in the next three months.
Japanese companies were most pessimistic about their performance in 2009 while respondents in Singapore were most upbeat.
However, only 37 per cent of firms in Singapore said they would hire this quarter, down from 43 per cent in the third quarter survey. Companies in healthcare and life sciences though plan to hire for new pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, according to the survey. -- REUTERS
HONG KONG - Job openings in Asia are at a four-year low as less than half of companies in major markets plan to hire in the next three months, a survey by recruitment firm Hudson showed on Wednesday.
Hong Kong, followed by Singapore, will see the sharpest slowdown, with only 32 per cent of survey respondents in the Chinese territory planning to hire this quarter, a five-year low. That is down from 42 per cent in a similar survey in the third quarter and 57 per cent in a second-quarter survey.
Hiring plans in China, Japan and Singapore are at their lowest level in four years and are probably worse still as a sell-off in financial markets has depressed business sentiment since the survey was taken in late August, Hudson said.
The survey by Chicago-based Hudson Highland Group covered responses from 2,600 managers at multinationals across industries in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.
Prospects in Hong Kong are being hurt by turmoil in the world's financial markets as the US-led credit crisis has spread globally.
However, even in China's still robust economy only 44 per cent of employers said they would take on more executives this quarter, compared with 55 per cent in a survey three months earlier and 64 per cent a year ago.
The drop was partly attributed to a period of heavy recruitment in the media/PR/advertising and consumer sectors ahead of the Beijing Olympics, Hudson said. Among banks in China, 50 per cent said they would hire this quarter, down from 64 per cent in the previous survey.
The slowdown was less pronounced in Japan where sentiment was already weak: 43 per cent of Japanese firms surveyed said they would be hiring this quarter, compared with 46 per cent in the previous quarter. Low consumer confidence is hurting the business outlook and just 24 per cent of companies in the consumer sector said they would add headcount in the next three months.
Japanese companies were most pessimistic about their performance in 2009 while respondents in Singapore were most upbeat.
However, only 37 per cent of firms in Singapore said they would hire this quarter, down from 43 per cent in the third quarter survey. Companies in healthcare and life sciences though plan to hire for new pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, according to the survey. -- REUTERS
