December 12 (SeeNews) - Slovenian employers reported optimistic hiring intentions for the first quarter of 2018 - the strongest for a first-quarter period since 2011, recruitment company ManpowerGroup said on Tuesday.
The so-called 'net employment outlook' for the first quarter, measured by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting a decrease in employment, stands at +17% or 3 percentage points stronger in comparison to the previous quarter and unchanged on the year, ManpowerGroup said in its latest Employment Outlook Survey.
Alongside with their Romanian peers, Slovenian employers report the strongest hiring plans for Q1 2018 in the EMEA region. Employers in only six other countries, among the 43 that participate in the quarterly survey worldwide, report stronger first quarter outlooks than the Slovenian forecast.
According to the survey, 15% of employers expect to increase staffing levels, 2% forecast a decrease and 79% of 621 Slovenian employers anticipate no change in the first three months of next year.
The brightest job prospects remain in the manufacturing sector, where the net employment outlook stands at +31%. Elsewhere, upbeat hiring prospects are reported two sectors with outlooks of +19% − the restaurants & hotels sector and the transport, storage & communication sector − while construction sector employers report hopeful hiring plans with an outlook of +17%.
Steady payroll gains are also anticipated in the wholesale & retail trade sector, where the outlook is +15%, and in the finance, insurance, real estate & business services sector, with an outlook of +13%. Meanwhile, the most cautious hiring intentions are reported in the agriculture, hunting, forestry & fishing sector and the electricity, gas & water supply sector, with outlooks of +7%.
In terms of regional hiring, payroll gains are anticipated by employers in all four regions during the forthcoming quarter. Employers in Central Slovenia report the strongest hiring prospects with a net employment outlook of +19%. Elsewhere, steady job gains are expected in both the North East and the South East, with outlooks of +16% and +15%, respectively, while the outlook for the South West stands at +12%.