Singapore (VNA) – Singaporean employers have revealed bright prospectsfor their hiring plans in the third quarter of the year, according to a surveyconducted by recruitment company ManpowerGroup Employment.

The firm’s latest outlook survey released on June 11 showed that 15 percent ofthe employers intend to increase their staff, 77 percent forecast no change totheir payrolls, three percent anticipate a decrease, while five percent gave noanswer about their plans.

The resulting net employment outlook for the upcoming quarter is said to remainrelative stable at 12 percent, up one percentage point from the previousquarter, but it remains unchanged year-over-year.

Employers in all seven industry sectors, namely finance insurance and realestate, manufacturing, mining and construction, public admin and education,services, transportation and utilities, and wholesale trade and retail trade,expect to add to payrolls in the period, with those in the publicadministration and education sector reporting the strongest hiring outlook of22 percent in growth, jumping 5 percentage points from Quarter 2.

Positive workforce gains are expected for the service sector where the outlookis 18 percent increase, up by 8 percentage points from the same time last year.

Outlooks of 10 percent and 9 percentare reported in the transportation and utilities sector and the mining andconstruction sector, respectively. Elsewhere, employers report moderate hiringplans, with outlooks standing at 8 percent in both the manufacturing sectorand the wholesale and retail trade sector.

In the finance, insurance and real estate sector, hiring intention is theweakest at 7 percent, a decline of 18 percentage points on the correspondingquarter.

Job gains areforecast for micro businesses, small businesses, medium businesses and largebusinesses during the next three months.

Large employers report dynamic hiring plans with a booming outlook of 59 percent,while the most cautious outlook of 4 percent is reported by micro firms.

On a regionalscale, employers in all eight Asia Pacific countries and territories surveyedexpect to grow payrolls in the three months to September 2019, with employersin Japan (25 percent) and Taiwan (22 percent) anticipating the strongesthiring activity, while the weakest outlooks are reported in China ( 8 percent),New Zealand ( 12 per cent) and Singapore ( 12 percent).

President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Kurt Wee said thatthe US-China trade war affects the global economic trade volume, and impactSingaporean businesses, making them stay more prudent and selective aboutemployment.

Linda Teo,country manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore, said although employers inSingapore remain optimistic, they are cautious about their hiring plan amid theeconomic headwinds.

Firms will continue filling gaps in their workforce but at a slower pace due tothe US-China trade disputes, she said.-VNA