Global employers boost hiring towards year end, survey shows

LONDON: Major global companies have boosted hiring for professional roles as they enter the final quarter of the year, especially in retail, technology and healthcare, but demand for financial services recruits is more sluggish, a survey showed on Tuesday.

Job vacancies for professional roles globally were up nearly 9% month on month in October, compared with a 5% fall in September, according to an index from recruiters Robert Walters.

“The latest figures ... (are) a positive hint toward more traditional recruitment cycles returning, whereby October and the final quarter tends to be busy as companies ramp

up seasonal hires or look to spend remaining hiring budgets before the close

of the year,” Robert Walters’ CEO Toby Fowlston said.

Vacancies rose by 11% on the month in the United States and 4% in Britain, but there were bigger increases of 18% and 22% in Canada and Mexico, which Fowlston linked to businesses’ wish to be located closer to their US clients.

“This could be driven further in the next quarter by recent geopolitical shifts and trade renegotiations or agreements,” he said.

US President-elect Donald Trump has said he will impose 60% tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods and has floated the idea of a 10% tariff on all imports.

Vacancies for professional roles rose by 29% in the retail and consumer goods and services sector, 15% in basic materials, 14% in tech and 13% in healthcare, but only 5% in real estate and 1% in financial services.

“If we take the two biggest hubs in the world – London and New York - we can see why October job growth was muted due to the US election and UK budget,” Fowlston said.

Compared with a year ago, financial services vacancies are 10% higher, driven by a 12% increase in the United States, while vacancies have fallen 7% in Switzerland, 6% in Britain and 5% in France.

The data is mostly based on publicly advertised jobs by listed companies with a market capitalisation of at least $100 billion and privately owned companies with annual sales of at least $50 billion.