Domestic companies plan to hire fewer staff by the end of next month than three months ago, with the number of new recruits falling to a three-year low, the Council of Labor Affairs’ latest survey showed.
The council’s survey of employers, conducted between Oct. 22 and Nov. 9, showed that 18.77 percent of the 3,013 employers polled said they would increase their staff by Jan. 31, 5.71 percent said they planned to reduce hiring, and 67.13 percent said they would not change their level of recruitment.
“The domestic labor market and manpower demand are likely to see positive support from a better-than-expected US economy, a significant recovery in China’s exports and the Cabinet’s upcoming plans to boost the stock market,” the council said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
Based on the council’s survey of domestic companies with 30 or more employees, about 40,200 workers are expected to be hired by the end of next month, while 14,100 jobs will be eliminated, a statement released by the council showed.
By subtracting the number of employers planning to reduce staffing from the number planning to hire, a net 26,100 new jobs would be created between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, the council said.
However, that net increase would still be 28.1 percent lower than the 36,300 jobs created in the previous three months and 45.85 percent less than the 48,200 jobs created during the same period last year, the council’s data showed.
It would also be the lowest net hiring in three years after domestic firms created 27,600 jobs between July 1 and Oct. 31 in 2010, based on the council’s data.
The dismal data adds to an increasingly gloomy labor outlook, with the number of workers taking unpaid leave reaching 4,323 people as of Nov. 2, while the nation’s unemployment rate rose 0.01 percentage points month-on-month to 4.33 percent in October.
The council said the manufacturing sector would account for the biggest portion of hiring, with a net increase of 11,800 new jobs, followed by the wholesale and retail sector with 7,600 jobs, and the banking and insurance sector with 3,300 jobs.
The type of workers most in demand were technicians and assistants (11,300), followed by service and sales representatives (7,300), equipment operators and assemblers (3,500), specialists (2,200) and unskilled or manual workers (1,000), the survey showed.
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