Global hiring plans are set to cool off heading into summer, according to the ManpowerGroup Q3 Employment Outlook released today. The net employment outlook now stands at 28% — up 5% from last quarter but down 5% year over year — suggesting that economic headwinds are starting to impact employers’ hiring expectations.
The net employment outlook is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate reductions to staffing levels from those who plan to hire.
“This data suggests employers are planning more measured hiring for the quarter ahead as they navigate a range of local and macro level challenges from supply constraints to uneven consumer confidence and rising inflation,” said ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jonas Prising. “That said, attracting and retaining business-critical talent remains a priority, and our survey respondents around the world continue to be focused on hiring for in-demand roles.”
ManpowerGroup’s data found that 43% of employers globally plan to hire in the third quarter, while 15% expect a staffing decrease, 39% plan to keep workforce levels steady and 3% are undecided.
North America continues to hold the strongest outlook at 35%, followed by Asia Pacific (31%) and South and Central America (29%); Europe, Middle East and Africa reported the weakest outlook at 20%.
The overall hiring expectations in North America are the highest of all world regions at 35%. However, both the US and Canada expect hiring to be weaker compared to their year over year forecast, with both countries’ NEO decreasing 3%.
Compared to last quarter, employers across Puerto Rico (35%), the US (35%) and Canada (34%) report increases in their outlooks, up 9, 5 and 8 percentage points, respectively.
Globally, the strongest hiring intentions are among organizations in Costa Rica (43%), the Netherlands (39%) and Peru (38%). The least optimistic outlooks were reported by employers in Argentina (6%), Slovakia (10%), Austria (11%) and Italy (11%).
ManpowerGroup’s survey included nearly 39,000 employers in 41 countries.