Next year, the most jobs will be offered in Brazil and Taiwan

Most employers in the global labor market are less confident that they will hire workers than they were at the beginning of the year, signaling tough times for job seekers, concludes the Manpower group in its forecasts for the first quarter of next year.

A survey of hiring plans for the first quarter of next year showed weaker employment forecasts in 29 out of 42 countries covered than in the same period last year, reported the leading employment agency group.

The weaker sentiment regarding employment is most evident in Europe, where employers in 13 out of 24 countries covered by the survey presented negative employment forecasts for the first quarter of 2013. Just three months ago, such forecasts came from only eight countries.

The most optimistic hiring plans for the first quarter of next year were announced by employers in Taiwan, India, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Panama, while the biggest pessimists are those in Greece, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Netherlands.

“Companies around the world are hesitant to invest due to uncertainty, which includes their investment in the workforce,” stated Jeffrey Joerres, Chairman and CEO of ManpowerGroup.

“In Europe, more companies have told us that they will reduce the number of workers to adjust to weaker demand. In fact, employers in seven European countries have announced the weakest forecasts since we began tracking employment trends,” notes Joerres.

He adds, however, that the current weakness in the global labor market is significantly different from that during the period from 2008 to 2009, as it is a prolonged stagnation in employment rather than ‘widespread doomsday announcements.’

“Given the repeated slide of the eurozone into recession, employers there are faced with the difficult task of balancing in the short term,” emphasizes the head of Manpower. “Companies must find a way to align their workforce with the uncertain demand for their goods and services, and that is not simple,” concludes Joerres.