Calcutta, March 11: After Singapore, India could be your best bet to find a job between April and June this year globally!

The hiring outlook of Indian employers appeared most favourable after Singapore in a global survey of hiring outlook for April to June undertaken by Manpower across 32 countries.

Singapore topped the charts for a favourable hiring outlook, while India, Peru and Romania came second, followed by Costa Rica, Argentina, Poland, Hong Kong, Australia, Greece and South Africa. “The hiring pace has slowed down in the second quarter because of an uncertainty in some of the leading economies across the world, which led to volatility in equity markets, commodity prices and exchange rates,” said Naresh Malhan, managing director of Manpower India.

“Indian employers continue to be positive yet more cautious about their hiring intentions. They are focusing on increasing efficiency and productivity of employees to remain competitive rather than on increasing staff strength,” said Malhan.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, conducted for the 12th consecutive quarter in India, reports that the country will have one of the brightest hiring outlook globally with a net employment outlook of 36 per cent.

The net employment outlook is calculated by taking the percentage of employers expecting total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage anticipating a decrease in the next quarter. This outlook represents a moderate decrease of six percentage points since the first quarter of 2008 but an year-over-year increase of 5 percentage points.

“The second quarter of the calendar year is usually sluggish as budgets and hiring intentions are being finalised by Indian companies for whom it’s the start of a new fiscal,” Malhan added.Of the 5,279 employers surveyed, 37 per cent expect an increase in staffing levels in the second quarter of 2008, 1 per cent anticipate a decrease, and 54 per cent expect no change.

Employers in the mining and construction industry report the most optimistic outlook among all the seven industry sectors (42 per cent). Employers in public administration, education, wholesale and retail trade have the least robust outlook at 31 per cent.

Hiring intentions of employers in all the seven industry sectors reveal quarter-over-quarter decreases in net employment outlook, with the steepest decline in wholesale and retail trade, which is down 10 percentage points.

Southern India represents the most robust hiring intentions at 39 per cent net employment outlook, with the north and the west expected to maintain a brisk pace at 36 and 35 per cent net employment outlook, respectively. The east represents the weakest outlook at 26 per cent.