North American employers reported positive hiring intentions — they were the strongest hiring intentions among global regions — but those intentions are down year over year, according to ManpowerGroup’s Third-Quarter Employment Outlook Survey.
The US has a seasonally adjusted net employment outlook of 30% for the upcoming third quarter, according to the report. That’s relatively optimistic, but it’s down from 35% in the report looking to the third quarter of 2023.
ManpowerGroup calculates the net employment outlook by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate reduction to staffing levels from those who plan to hire. The measure is seasonally adjusted.
In Canada, the net employment outlook is 23% for the third quarter, down from 34% for the third quarter of 2023.
Mexico’s net employment outlook is 32% for the third quarter, down from 36% for the third quarter of last year.
Globally, the net employment outlook is 22%, though that is down from 28% in the report for the third quarter of 2023.
IT hiring had the strongest employment outlook globally by industry with a net employment outlook of 29%; however, that was down five percentage points from the second quarter’s report.
“Though labor markets are holding strong in many markets, ongoing economic uncertainty continues to give employers pause,” Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup chairman and CEO, said in a press release. “Most are incrementally more cautious than this time last year, prioritizing hiring for the core skills they need.”
Employers in North America reported the strongest hiring intentions at 27%, followed by Asia Pacific at 23%; South and Central Americas at 22%; and Europe, Middle East and Africa at 18%.
By country, the strongest hiring plans are reported in Costa Rica at 35%, Switzerland at 34%, Guatemala at 32% and Mexico at 32%, while the weakest outlooks are in Argentina and Romania, both at 3%.
Across sectors, the IT industry continues to report positive hiring intentions at 29%, followed by “financials and real estate” and “healthcare and life sciences,” both at 27%.
ManpowerGroup surveyed 40,374 employers in 42 countries about their third-quarter hiring intentions. The survey took place between April 1 and April 30.