56% of employers won’t be hiring in 1Q12

Except for healthcare, all sectors reported lower hiring expectations than last year.

After falling for the last three quarters, hiring expectations show a small rise this quarter, says a new study of nearly 600 executives across key business sectors interviewed last month. According to The Hudson Report, 44 percent of respondents across all sectors forecast headcount growth in Quarter One 2012, compared with 42 percent in Quarter Four last year.

Hudson released findings of its comprehensive quarterly The Hudson Report for Singapore. The report surveys the expectations of nearly 1,800 key employment decision makers in Asia from multinational organisations of all sizes in all major industry sectors.

Small rise in expectations
After falling for three consecutive quarters, hiring expectations show a small increase in Q1 2012.

Across all sectors, 44 percent of respondents anticipate headcount growth, compared with 42 percent in Q4 2011. The proportion of respondents expecting to reduce headcount is 7 percent, almost the same as the previous quarter’s 6 percent. Hiring expectations in Singapore are higher than in Hong Kong but lower than in China.

Andrew Tomich, Executive General Manager, Singapore, Hudson comments “Hiring expectations are up slightly this quarter, after a steep fall in Q4. Due to global market uncertainties, most companies are adopting a cautious approach to hiring.”

Falling expectations year-on-year
With the exception of Healthcare & Life Sciences, all sectors report lower hiring expectations than in Q1 2011. Overall, the 44 percent of respondents planning to hire more staff this quarter compares with 62 percent a year ago. The proportion of respondents saying they will shed staff has more than doubled in the same period, from 3 percent to 7 percent. To set these figures in perspective, however, it should be noted that the 62 percent reported in Q1 2011 was the highest figure for hiring expectations for eleven years.

Most employers plan to pay bonuses
Most respondents say that their organisation will pay discretionary year-end bonuses for 2011.

Overall, 80 percent give this response. Although high, this is lower than the 87 percent reported in Q1 2011 and is also lower than the figures for China and Hong Kong.

Little change in size of bonuses
Respondents whose organisation will pay discretionary bonuses for 2011 were also asked about the range in which payments will be made. Overall, there has been little change from last year. Across all sectors, 12 percent of respondents plan to pay 5 percent or less, 33 percent will pay 6-10 percent, 44 percent will pay 11-20 percent and 11 percent will pay more than 20 percent. The comparable figures for Q1 2011 were 10 percent, 33 percent, 42 percent and 15 percent respectively.

Pay rises for most new hires
Just 5 percent of respondents across all sectors say they do not expect to have to pay any increase above current salary levels to attract new managerial hires. Nearly half (49 percent) say they will offer rises in the 11-20 percent range, while 6 percent anticipate having to offer more than 20 percent.