Recent data shows signs of strong job prospects for the first quarter next year, surveys by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) and the recruitment firm Manpower said yesterday, with an estimated 35 percent of businesses planning to recruit more than 80,000 workers.
A quarterly survey conducted by the council of 3,020 businesses with 30 or more employees found a projected net increase in new hires for the next quarter of 83,400 workers.
Companies in the manufacturing sector would contribute the highest number of new hires, with 38,400 jobs, followed by the wholesale and retail sector (15,700), -corporate support services (9,300) and shipping and logistics (3,000), council data showed.
The types of workers most in demand were unskilled or manual laborers at 20,900, followed by service staff and salespeople (19,100), technicians and equipment operators (13,000), clerks and assistant staff (12,700) and specialists (12,500).
The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey showed that of the 1,033 employers polled this quarter, 35 percent said they planned to expand their workforce, while 60 percent of employers surveyed said they would neither expand nor shrink it.
The proportion of businesses planning to increase their workforce has fallen slightly from the 43 percent predicted for the fourth quarter this year, showing that while employers are still willing to hire, the actual hiring numbers have begun to cooled down.
Companies in the finance, insurance and real estate industry were the most willing to hire, with as many as 46 percent reporting recruitment plans. Companies in transportation and utilities, as well as those in wholesale and retail trade, had the weakest hiring plans, with 29 percent seeking to expand their workforce.
“Historically, the first quarter is not a season for job transition. However, the survey results show that opportunities for job seekers still remain bright, which may be related to the shorter Lunar New Year having less influence on commercial activities, global recovery, and the improving cross-strait relationship,” Manpower Taiwan general manager Terence Liu (劉玿廷) said in a statement.
From a global viewpoint, the Manpower survey showed improved hiring expectations from a year ago in 28 of 39 countries and territories, including the G7 countries of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, where hiring plans were stable or improved from both the fourth quarter of this year and this time last year. Despite continued mixed results across Europe, German employers were reporting their strongest hiring plans since early 2008.
The strongest job prospects were reported by employers in India, China, Taiwan, Brazil, Turkey and Singapore. By contrast, the weakest — and only negative forecasts globally — were reported by employers in Greece, the Czech Republic, Austria, Ireland, Spain and Romania. Employers in Bulgaria, Slovenia and Turkey were surveyed for the first time this quarter.
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