By Chuang Peck Ming

THE current hiring spree may not match the peaks in 2007 and early 2008, but it's likely to be more sustainable, says Manpower Singapore country manager Peter Haglund.

'The fourth-quarter outlook indicates an active hiring pace will continue through the end of the year,' he said after Manpower polled 699 employers.

The US-based employment firm's Q4 net employment outlook for Singapore, derived by subtracting the proportion of employers anticipating a drop in recruitment from the proportion expecting a rise, is a seasonally adjusted 23 per cent for October-December - the same as in Q3.

'The pace of hiring is expected to remain similar to that reported in Q3 and moderately improved when compared with last year at the same time,' Manpower said in a statement.

Year on year, the prospect for job growth is eight percentage points stronger for Q4.

Manpower polls in 2007 and early 2008 revealed net employment outlooks of more than 50 per cent.

All seven industry sectors in the latest poll forecast a higher headcount in the next three months, with the public administration and education (net employment outlook 29 per cent) and the wholesale and retail trade (outlook 27 per cent) sectors tipped to take in the biggest number of people.

Hiring in the mining and construction (outlook 19 per cent) and the finance, insurance and real estate (outlook 18 per cent) sectors are expected to be steady.

The services sector (outlook 17 per cent) is likely to post respectable jobs, while the transport and utilities sector (outlook 7 per cent) is looking at a modest rise.

With the the pace of hiring in Q3 tipped to extend into Q4, quarter-on-quarter recruitment in the wholesale and retail trade sector is likely to rise 13 percentage points, and that in public administration and education sector by three percentage points.

But in the other five sectors, hiring is expected to slow from Q3 - notably in the transport and utilities sector, which anticipates 16 percentage points to be clipped off its employment growth. The services sector is planning for a 10 percentage point cut.

'Although the overall result is positive, the outlook in the services sector has steadily declined for three successive quarters and it will be interesting to see how this develops in Q1, 2011,' Mr Haglund said.

Against Q4 2009, the forecast for the next three months is stronger jobs growth for all the industry sectors polled.

'Considerable improvements of 14 and 13 percentage points are reported by employers in the mining and construction sector and the wholesale and retail trade sector respectively, and public administration and education sector employers report a 12 percentage point increase in the outlook,' Manpower said.

Manpower also polled the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, covering 16,000 employers in 36 countries and territories, including Singapore.

'Across the entire region, employers report positive hiring intentions for the next three months, with those in China and Taiwan reporting the strongest hiring expectations, as well as the most optimistic outlooks since the survey started in the second quarter of 2005,' it said.

While hiring plans in Q4 are mixed compared with Q3 - with Australia looking at a slight fall, and India and New Zealand expecting weaker recruitment - employers in all countries and territories polled have bigger recruitment plans.

This article was first published in The Business Times.