Headcounts to stay low
Employers adopt a wait-and-see hiring approach
WITH a new year just around the corner, Australian employers appear to be taking a business-as-usual approach to hiring, in the face of broader economic and political uncertainty.
While the festive season is typically a slow period in the employment market, the slow start looks set to creep into the rest of the year, with many employers not planning to grow their headcount through 2017.
According to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, hiring intentions remain cautiously optimistic, with some job gains expected and almost 80% of businesses intending to keep their headcount the same in Q1 2017.
The resulting national Net Employment Outlook (NEO) is +9%, down two percentage points from last quarter, and at the same level as this time last year.
Richard Fischer, managing director, ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand, said businesses are again adopting a wait and see approach in terms of reacting to implications of macro issues.
“The hiring intentions forecast for the first quarter remain modest for the fourth consecutive year, suggesting that at the start of the year employers tend to wait and see how things pan out before making broader hiring decisions,” he said.
“Across the board, there is certainly some positivity, with 13% of employers looking to bolster their headcount with additional hires, while the clear majority – 76% – are not intending to make any changes.
“If you look at what the last 12 months has bought from a macro political and economic perspective, it was certainly a year of uncertainty and change.”
Mr Fischer said the double dissolution election in Australia, the ‘Brexit’ decision in the United Kingdom, and a surprising American presidential campaign all impacted on business sentiment.
“While there is arguably still some uncertainty around the impact of such events, business sentiment has been relatively stable throughout the year,” he said.
A closer look at the Australian states showed Queensland employers reported the biggest drop in NEO quarter on quarter – down to +3% from +10% last quarter, and down from +8% this time last year.
Mr Fischer noted that the Queensland labour market remains weak, saying this is largely due to the end of ‘labour intensive’ construction across the resources sector.
“Queensland employers remain cautious in their hiring intentions heading into the new year – taking a ‘wait and see’ or ‘make do with what we have’ approach to hiring,” he said.