Globally, job market improves 

A regular global survey of hiring and
firing trends covering more than 9600 organisations in 55 countries has found
job prospects for professionals and managers continuing to improve.

The ‘Global Snapshot’ project from the
international recruitment firm, Antal, asked 9672 companies in major markets
such as western and eastern Europe, Africa, India, China and the USA whether
they were currently hiring at professional and managerial level. It then asked
whether they planned to do so in the coming quarter and whether they were
currently letting staff go or were planning to do so in the next three months.
Current hiring across the globe was up from 53 percent of respondents at the
beginning of the year to 54 percent now. And the percentage of organisations
intending to hire in the coming quarter was up from 55 percent to 58 percent.
The percentage of organisations intending to shed staff had fallen slightly
from 28 percent in the autumn to 22 percent now. However the general consensus
was that this figure would drop to 25 percent over the coming quarter.

Western
Europe

The highest current hiring levels amongst the larger economies were in the UK (60 percent), France
(53 percent), and Germany
(41 percent). However many of the smaller countries bettered their larger
neighbours, namely Belgium (66 percent), Netherlands (63 percent) and
Switzerland (60 percent).The lowest levels of hiring were in Luxembourg at 29
percent and Malta at just six percent. More countries in Western Europe had
experienced a drop in hiring levels than in any other geographic region.

Eastern Europe and Eurasia
The highest recruiting levels in this region were in Russia, (66

percent), the Czech Republic (61 percent),
Romania (50 percent), Poland (47 percent) and Bulgaria (47 percent). Hungary’s
well-documented economic problems meant that it had the lowest level of hiring
in the region with only 19% of businesses questioned actively seeking new
managers or professionals.

Africa and the Middle East
Saudi Arabia registered the highest level of recruitment at professional and
managerial level (74 percent). However the UAE appeared to have staged
something of a recovery with hiring up from 51 percent at the beginning of the
year to 62 percent now. In Africa the highest level of recruitment was registered
in Egypt (75 percent). Hiring in Nigeria has dropped to 52 percent from 79
percent at the beginning of the year and in South Africa from 49 percent to 39
percent.

Asia
Hiring levels have risen very slightly in China from 71 percent recorded in
January to 72 percent now, and employers appear to be confident about
recruitment plans for the coming quarter with 73 percent of businesses planning
to increase headcount. The percentage of organisations shedding staff at
professional and managerial level has dropped markedly from 25 percent to just
17 percent. In India hiring levels have risen from 71 percent to 73 percent and
look set to jump to 77 percent in the coming quarter. The percentage or
organisations shedding staff has also dropped from 16 percent in January to
just 11 percent now.