Indian companies report strongest hiring outlook for June quarter 2024 globally: Report

New Delhi: Employers in India continue to report a bullish hiring outlook for the upcoming June quarter, with 36 per cent of companies planning to add more staff in the next three months, a survey said on Tuesday.

According to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey of nearly 3,150 employers, India reports the strongest outlook among 42 countries across the globe.

For the April-June period, 50 per cent of employers are forecasting an increase in payrolls, 14 per cent anticipating a decrease and 33 per cent expecting no change, while 3 per cent are unsure, the resulting net employment outlook is 38 per cent.

"India tops the list of countries across the globe with a Net Employment Outlook of 36 per cent despite organisations struggling to activate their hiring plans with talent shortages at 80 per cent," ManpowerGroup said in a statement.

India's net employment outlook has strengthened by 6 per cent since April-June 2023 and is down 1 per cent when compared to the same period ​last quarter.

The Net Employment Outlook is derived from the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from it the percentage of employers expecting a decrease.

At 36 per cent, India reported the highest net employment outlook, followed by the US at 34 per cent, and China at 32 per cent. The global average stood at 22 per cent, while the weakest employment outlook was reported in Romania (- 2 per cent).

"This is indeed a moment of pride for India. We have been consistent in demonstrating our capabilities and leveraging our demographic dividend. Industries in Healthcare, Life Sciences and Renewable Energy are seeing rapid growth rates with the support of government initiatives," said ManpowerGroup’s India and Middle East Managing Director Sandeep Gulati.

Sector-wise, Healthcare and Life Sciences continue to dominate the market with strongest hiring intentions (44 per cent), followed by Communication Services (43 per cent), and Information Technology (41 per cent). The weakest outlook is indicated in Energy and Utilities (20 per cent).

"India is becoming a popular destination for medical tourism as well. We boast of the most FDA approved production facilities globally, outside of the US. With the further strengthening of the educational infrastructure underway and a large pool of talent availability, there is no stopping India from progressing into the next orbit of growth and development," Gulati said.

According to the survey, the strongest hiring intentions are among organizations in North of India (40 per cent), followed by West (35 per cent), South (33 per cent) and East (30 per cent) reporting the least optimistic outlooks.

In terms of industry size, very large organizations indicate strongest optimism in hiring with the Net Employment Outlook of 44 per cent followed by large organizations (43 per cent) and large enterprises (40 per cent).

Among Asia Pacific countries, India (36 per cent) and China (32 per cent) continue to report the strongest outlooks in the region, while the most cautious outlooks were reported by employers in Japan (11 per cent) and Taiwan (12 per cent).