On 30th March we marked the first anniversary of the successful evolution of our brand and organization to better anticipate the sophisticated needs of clients and candidates in the fast-evolving Human Age.
Exactly one year ago today, ManpowerGroup created a stronger, more connected family of brands which provide innovative workforce solutions:
- Manpower, the company’s core contingent and permanent staffing business and calling card, sits at the heart of ManpowerGroup with over 60 years of history pioneering the world of work. The core staffing business the company was founded on grew 11 percent in 2011
- Experis, ManpowerGroup’s professional resourcing and project-based solutions business grew by 18 percent last year. It is the global leader in professional resourcing and project-based workforce solutions and accelerates clients’ growth by delivering in-demand talent for mission-critical positions.
- Right Management is now the world’s largest outplacement firm. Aligning Right Management more closely with ManpowerGroup’s trusted brand has been proven to create high value for clients. Right Management helps organizations optimize talent and defines, assesses, develops and measures the effectiveness of leaders at all levels to unleash human potential in an area that requires increased productivity, innovation, collaboration and creativity.
- ManpowerGroup Solutions, the global leader in Strategic Workforce Consulting, Managed Service Provider, Borderless Talent Solutions, Talent-Based Outsourcing and Recruitment Process Outsourcing, leverages ManpowerGroup’s unsurpassed network of local expertise and understanding of global workforce trends to provide unmatched talent solutions. ManpowerGroup Solutions is a $1 billion business, four times larger than the closest competitor.
One year on, ManpowerGroup’s voice in the industry has grown louder and stronger with bigger reach and impact as the company’s unrivalled suite of solutions demonstrate their unique power as a group and their unique position to help clients navigate the complexity of the Human Age and win.
ManpowerGroup has been named to the Ethisphere Institute’s 2012 World’s Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical leadership, compliance, corporate social responsibility and business practices at large. This marks the second consecutive year that we have been named to this prestigious list, and are once again the only company in our industry recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.
In their announcement, the Ethisphere Institute, a leading international think-tank, noted that the competition is becoming more intense as more companies vie to be among the Most Ethical. Honorees are carefully scrutinized and selected for their extraordinary ethical business standards, innovative ideas that benefit the public and for demonstrating “how corporate citizenship is undoubtedly tied to the success of a company’s brand and bottom line.”
Clearly this is not a designation easily earned, and is an acknowledgment of how we think and act ethically as a company. Being among the World’s Most Ethical Companies recognizes how we unleash human potential, deliver innovative workforce solutions and conduct business unlike anyone else in our industry.
We are proud to be recognized for our work practices and the belief of doing well by doing good!
Indian Employers’ hiring plans for Q2 2012 continue to be most optimistic among all 41 countries and territories surveyed despite global uncertainties
According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today, the survey of 4,992 employers across India indicates that the hiring activity will be robust in the second quarter, particularly in the Services and Financial sectors. The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook of +44% indicates Indian employers are the most optimistic among employers in the 41 countries and territories surveyed. In addition, the forecast from employers in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector is the strongest since survey began in India in 2005.
Employers in all four regions of India and all seven industry sectors report positive hiring plans for the coming quarter. In comparison to the previous quarter, employers in six out of seven industry sectors report stronger hiring plans. Jobseekers can expect the most opportunities in the Services sector (+59%) and Finance Insurance and Real Estate sector (+51%), while the country’s weakest – although still robust – hiring plans are reported by employers in the Public Administration and Education (+38%) sector.
Sectoral Trends
The Services sector Outlook strengthens considerably, both over the previous quarter and over the corresponding quarter last year, improving 9 and 10 percentage points, respectively. Employers in the Finance Insurance and Real Estate sector (+51%) are also planning to hire at a vigorous pace. Though the Outlook in the sector remains stable when compared to last year, it improves by 6 percentage points over the previous quarter. The Net Employment Outlook for the Transportation & Utilities sector (42%) is relatively stable year-over-year, but has shown considerable improvements of 7 percentage points over the previous quarter. Public Administration and Education sector (+38%) employers report the weakest hiring intentions among the seven industry sectors. The Outlook declines by 13 percentage points over the same period last year, but improves by 5 percentage points quarter-over-quarter.
India’s Regional Trends
Employers in all four Indian regions anticipate a dynamic hiring pace in the next three months, with the Outlook improving in all of them when compared to the previous quarter. Employers in the West (+50%) are the most optimistic. The Outlook improves 6 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and 9 percentage points year-over-year. With an Outlook of +48%, employers in the South are also optimistic about their hiring plans, with the hiring plans improving 4 percentage points over the previous quarter, but declining by 2 percentage points when compared to last year. Employers in the North report the weakest hiring plans. However, the Outlook is a relatively robust +46%, and although it declines by 7 percentage points over the corresponding quarter last year, it improves by 6 percentage points over the previous quarter.
Global Trends
The global forecast for the quarter ahead is mixed with Net Employment Outlooks declining from three months ago in just 11 countries and territories (compared to 30 in Q1) and improving in 23. Compared to 12 months ago, Outlooks are softer in 24 countries and territories, and improve in 13. Worldwide, employer hiring expectations are strongest in India, Brazil, Taiwan, Peru and Turkey, and weakest in Greece, Spain and the Czech Republic, where a greater percentage of employers in these three countries are planning to trim payrolls rather than hire staff.
Hiring intentions remain solid across the Asia-Pacific region. However, employers report notable year-over-year declines in six of eight countries and territories. Compared to three months ago, the only notable weakening in hiring plans is reported in Hong Kong. Indian employers continue to report the strongest plans in the region and Hong Kong and Japan the weakest, but Japanese employers are reporting their strongest outlook for Q2 – the country’s traditional peak hiring quarter – since 2008.
Previously inaccessible information is now public domain, but an overwhelming availability of qualitative information is upping the need to curate or categorize and optimize data more strategically. As a result, skills in curating and analyzing data now trump the need for search experts. Furthermore, excessive information exists on how organizations operate and their existing and potential workers – blurring the lines between personal and public space. Employers will have to delicately balance utilizing personal data to identify talent and unlock the potential of individuals, without violating their privacy.
In the Human Age, we have become all-day networks, able to act or respond immediately to many different situations. A business deal that begins in Tokyo on a Monday for a global corporation may continue uninterruptedly for days and involving employees and consultants from multiple time zones. Ideas may come from one-time economic outposts or collaborations between people who never meet but know each other virtually.
Among technologies that bear highlighting because they are likely to play a significant role in workforce management and other business issues are:
- E-reading tablets that provide access to information that leads to a more informed workforce.
- So-called Near Field Communication devices that automate major parts of the transactional experience. This technology creates greater efficiency but at the loss of jobs.
- Teleconferencing and related products will allow companies to employ larger numbers of talented, virtual workers who formerly would not have been attainable. The number of virtual workers has been rising steadily because these arrangements lead to cost savings in travel and office space, not to mention more satisfied, productive employees.
- Mobile personal platforms and applications that facilitate access to information and communication will enhance recruiting, employee engagement, collaboration and productivity.
- BigData products and services enable individuals to effectively use unprecedented quantities of information that previous systems could not process. BigData can help companies develop better management strategies, particularly at companies with tens of thousands of employees and locations worldwide, and improve understanding of markets. BigData may also help companies fine-tune recruiting by enabling them to identify talent gaps quickly and pinpointing candidates globally who can fill these openings.
- Social Networking allows companies to promote their employer brand, stay in touch with potential job candidates and engage people within and outside the company to solve specific problems.
In the Human Age, resources that were once plentiful are now limited, while others that were limited are no longer so. Chastened by declining revenues, companies have had to adjust their philosophies about the use of resources – natural, financial and human. They’ve switched to smaller staffs and have been exceedingly cautious about adding employees at greater expense, or without proof that additional talent would add benefits. This dynamic has simultaneously created a scarcity and abundance inversion: fewer benefits have led to increased stress among people who no longer felt protected by longstanding social safety nets. This comes as many populations are aging, increasing the need for these nets.
The number of workers with adequate skills has decreased. Among the top 10 jobs most in demand in 2011 were engineers, technicians, sales representatives, production operators, and accounting and finance staff. The same types of professionals were similarly among the 10 most needed in 2010 and in previous years. Across these professions and others exists a lack of general business skills, including communication, management and collaborative skills. The gaps are particularly acute in certain emerging countries where education and training systems have not kept pace with growth and the sort of business environment that breeds experience is less evolved.
This is partially due to advances in technology that have made some roles obsolete while creating new, more technical tasks everywhere from corporate offices to plant floors.
But information once coveted and protected like a fine wine is now copious, easily accessible via improved gadgetry and online services that are themselves more abundant – mobile devices, tablets, search engines, social media and blogs.
Search engines and analytical software have grown steadily more powerful and accurate. It’s now common to receive multiple answers to search inquiries instead of one or two. Among the major workforce implications for companies: They can now track employees, find talented job candidates and spread their employer brand more easily. Of course, these advances have made organizations more open for inspection. The flow of increased information is a two-way street.
The number of older people has increased and will continue to grow in key economies for decades. Populations are aging in countries as disparate as Germany and Japan. They are more youthful in India, Vietnam and Brazil, an edge for those rising economic stars going forward. In the past, these older groups were considered a burden but because of progress in healthcare, people are living longer healthier lives. As such, they will represent an opportunity for improving workforce quality.
Workforce diversity is hitting new heights as well. Companies have learned that hiring people from different ethnic groups and cultural and ethnic backgrounds helps them understand consumers and generate business in new markets. A diverse workplace requires heightened sensitivities and flexibility. Management techniques in Brazil may not resonate in Indonesia, although they may be just right in France, or the reverse.
In 2011, India’s GDP rose more than 7 percent and Brazil’s above 6 percent. U.S., UK and Japan GDP growth rates floundered at about 2 percent or less. China’s $2.85 trillion in reserves are nearly double the total reserves of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland combined. According to the International Monetary Fund, the country accounts for 40 percent of the world’s use of base metals, testimony to the power of its manufacturing sectors.
A study by the bank HSBC predicts that by the end of this decade emerging markets’ contributions to world economic growth will almost double those from established markets. (Four decades ago, established markets’ contributions approximately tripled those of emerging markets) The markets’ contributions are roughly even now. Moreover, the younger populations of many emerging markets – among them India, Brazil and Vietnam – are an advantage over more established economies. These countries have also developed faster-growing domestic markets fueled largely by increases in discretionary income.
The shifting balance in world economic power has sparked tensions between and within countries and organizations. A result of this growing tension is a rising sense of protectionism over skilled talent. Identifying, managing and re-strategizing roles for in-demand talent is now a top priority among CEOs. Yet companies need to collaborate with governments to fulfill this goal.
At the same time, the accumulation of wealth has fostered deep divides within populations both in emerging and established markets. The rich can afford not only a more comfortable lifestyle, but the education to maintain their status. This frustrates the poor who, with rare exceptions, lack resources needed to improve their lot.
The educational divide itself has also intensified the skills mismatch. In ManpowerGroup’s 2010 Talent Shortage Survey, one-third of more than 36,000 companies worldwide said they were struggling to fill positions.
The mismatches have hit countries with a double-whammy, hamstringing businesses while exacerbating tensions between the employed and unemployable.
For the first time in its history, ManpowerGroup is now publishing its most recent analysis of the Future Forces evolving the Human Age – and aligning these forces with the right people strategies.
ManpowerGroup’s role as a navigator and innovative workforce solutions provider in the fast-changing world of work was affirmed in 2011 at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland when ManpowerGroup CEO Jeff Joerres identified that the world had entered the Human Age.
What enabled ManpowerGroup to thoroughly document indicators of the Human Age? Years spent tracking macro-economic forces, which culminated in ManpowerGroup’s identification of critical and current world of work trends: Rapid technological development; shifting demographics that have accelerated a talent mismatch; and rises in customer sophistication and individual choice. The new capitalism, talentism has put unprecedented value on talent as the driver of business success.
In the Human Age, companies will have to navigate continued growth of emerging markets, globalization, competition for employees – who will be pickier about potential employers – and the usage of increasingly sophisticated technologies. Firms will face shortages of crucial skills, called a mismatch, because of the large number of people unable to find work. Higher unemployment rates than in previous eras are likely to be a fixture of the Human Age.
In addition, these organizations need to address heightened access to information and rising expectations for companies to be more socially responsible. Combined, these factors necessitate proactive, innovative and flexible workforce management strategies.
The world is a much different place than it was one year ago, as extensive change unfolded quickly at the dawn of the Human Age. This more fact-dense, connected universe has sent events in motion that previously would have taken years to unfold. Themes that evolved most clearly in 2011 will have a major impact on workforce management in months ahead – and beyond.
The next few posts will help you to understand how to address challenges stemming from these latest developments. Employers that successfully respond to these tests will ensure their future and competitive advantage.
The world stands on the brink of a global employability crisis—an over-supply of available workers and a undersupply of qualified talent. Faced with the most acute talent shortage since 2007—before the start of the world’s first global recession—one in three employers worldwide confirm that they cannot find the talent they need to fill key vacancies within their organization. This is a frustrating and complex conundrum for job seekers in the short-term as unemployment remains high, and employers in the long-term as forces, such as the demographic landscape, dictate the availability of talent. Therefore, the key question becomes: How can employers “manufacture” talent for the Human Age?
What can employers do to navigate this complex and challenging landscape?
As talent becomes increasingly difficult to find, we are heading toward a global employability crisis. Employers must reconsider their work models and people practices, and develop a robust workforce strategy that in a sense “manufactures” the talent they need to execute their long-term business strategy. Sticking to old assumptions on how to structure and organize work, how to develop talent and where to source it, will leave businesses in peril.
Talent simply cannot be “manufactured” in the short-term; it can, however, be “manufactured” in the long-term by developing a robust workforce strategy. Organizations need to re calibrate their mindsets to move away from only hiring just-in time talent to predicting long-term talent needs.
Their approach must go beyond an internally focused workforce plan to a holistic workforce strategy that balances external supply with internal demand. According to Manpower Group research, only 13% of HR leaders say they have a documented workforce strategy beyond their business plan. A robust workforce strategy should be based on the company’s business strategy, and identify the gaps between the talent that is available and the talent that will be needed. Further, it should consider important external factors that could affect future talent sources, such as demographic shifts, the rise in emerging markets, and rapidly evolving technology.
In 2008, ManpowerGroup addressed a labor phenomenon: a more globally mobile workforce. ManpowerGroup identified the roots of this increased worker fluidity, a unique combination of technological, demographic and educational change.
A wave of Internet and software evolutions in the first decade of the 21st century had, with remarkable speed, enabled companies to expand their global brands and talent recruitment efforts. The same innovations also allowed candidates to learn about potential employers, source opportunities and apply for openings with greater ease. Yet the same technology also created new challenges which individuals trained in outmoded systems could not always solve. The term “skills mismatch”—the inability of organizations to find the right employees where and when they need them—became common business speak. This mismatch left firms searching for new ways to address their talent shortages. Sourcing more heavily from foreign lands has increasingly become a logical solution to be used as part of a comprehensive talent acquisition strategy. The byproduct was the growth of a borderless workforce as a permanent piece in the world labor landscape.
Fast-forward to 2011. The world has been grappling with four years of economic tumult and a stubbornly high unemployment rate. Even the juggernauts of China and India are showing signs of stress. Yet, this troubled environment has only increased companies’ demand for workers from foreign pools. ManpowerGroup’s most recent Talent Shortage Survey of nearly 40,000 employers in 39 countries found that about one in three were unable to find the right skills.
Ripening Talent Corridors
The company’s 2011 Borderless Workforce Survey of more than 25,000 employers from 39 countries and territories has found that about one in four (24 percent) have been looking to foreign talent to solve their skills shortages. The survey indicated that U.S. companies were the most likely to seek help outside their borders with three in four respondents (75 percent) from the country naming a job category where foreign talent is important for filling gaps. China (8 percent) was among the countries where employers were least likely to look externally.
Many companies also continue to make use of talent migrating from within countries – usually from poorer, rural communities to more job affluent, urban areas. Consider the movement of laborers from Mexico’s agrarian south to the country’s northern cities and Tamil IT specialists to technology hotbeds of Bangalore and such high growth states as Haryana and Maharashtra. With labor markets global and labor laws local, talent is increasingly mobile; and “talent corridors” are ripening as competitive recruitment efforts are largely targeting supply countries in the same region.
The seekers of foreign talent are often also the biggest providers. About one in 10 employers in the survey said that China (11 percent), India (11 percent) or the U.K. (10 percent) provided them with workers. The survey data underscores certain patterns and long relationships. The Americas are more likely to need engineers than other positions and hire extensively from India. Europe is most likely to import laborers, particularly the U.K. Many workers have returned to their homeland as wages and conditions improved there. This two-way traffic has become another mobility trend.
Engineers are most in demand worldwide. About one in 10 (11 percent) of employers said that they needed engineers. It has led to waves of Indian engineers manning projects in North America, the Middle East, and other regions. Laborers (8 percent) and skilled manual trades (7 percent) were the other professions most in demand.
The talent mismatch and its demography challenges won’t be solved in the short-term, but employers and governments can indeed work together to create more dynamic talent sourcing opportunities at least regionally across talent corridors. Stronger connections and collaboration between businesses, educators and governments are critical for better anticipating the ever-changing demand for new skills and aligning candidates with the training needed to equip them with these skills.
Indian Employers’ hiring intentions are the most optimistic among all 41 countries surveyed
According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, the survey of 4,556 employers across India indicates that the hiring activity will be robust in the next three months, particularly in the Services sector. The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook of +41% indicates Indian employers report the most optimistic hiring intentions among the 41 countries and territories where the survey is conducted.
Employers in all four regions of India and all seven industry sectors report positive hiring plans for the next three months. When compared to the previous quarter, Net Employment Outlooks strengthen in six out of seven industry sectors. The Services sector (+49%) and Mining and Construction sector (+47%) represent the brightest hiring opportunities for job seekers in the next three months, while the country’s weakest – although still solid – hiring plans are reported by employers in the Wholesale and Retail Trade (+30%) sector.
“Notwithstanding the uncertainties in global markets, hiring plans are bouncing back after a slight decline in the final quarter of 2011, and employers in India are anticipating a vigorous hiring pace in the next quarter. This trend is being led by the IT, Banking and Manufacturing companies, especially multinationals and large national corporations, which are planning to hire aggressively in the first quarter of 2012,” said Sanjay Pandit, Managing Director of Manpower India. “Outlooks in Public Administration & Education and Mining & Construction sectors are also rebounding after declining by varying degrees in the fourth quarter, and employer hiring plans have strengthened considerably,” added Mr. Pandit.
Sectoral Trends
Employers in the Services Sector (+49%) report the strongest hiring plans this quarter. Though the sector’s Outlook remains relatively stable when compared to the previous year, it is 13 percentage points stronger than last quarter. The Net Employment Outlook in the Mining & Construction Sector (+47%) strengthens by 16 percentage points over last quarter and 13 percentage points over the corresponding quarter last year. Employers in the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector (+44%) report considerable improvements of 10 percentage points in comparison to the previous year, and an improvement of 16 percentage points over the previous quarter. Wholesale & Retail Trade sector (+30%) employers demonstrate the weakest hiring intentions among all industry sectors. The outlook declines by 7 percentage points quarter over quarter and is relatively stable when compared to last year.
India’s Regional Trends
Hiring intentions in all four Indian regions improve when compared with the previous quarter. With Net Employment Outlooks of +44%, employers in South, East and West regions report the most robust hiring plans, with employer optimism in the North region trailing only slightly with a similarly booming Outlook of +40%.
Global Trends
ManpowerGroup’s labor market research reveals first quarter hiring expectations are positive in 31 of 41 countries and territories, with Net Employment Outlooks declining from three months ago in 30 countries and territories. Outlooks are softer in 23 countries and territories compared to this time last year, but are stable or improved in 16. Hiring intentions for the first three months of the new year are strongest in India, Brazil, Taiwan, Panama and Turkey, and weakest in Greece, Hungary and Italy, where a greater percentage of employers in these three countries are planning to trim payrolls rather than hire staff.
Although positive hiring activity is expected in 13 of 22 countries surveyed across Europe and the Middle East, Net Employment Outlooks are weaker from three months ago in 17 countries and 11 compared to this time last year. Regional hiring plans are strongest in Turkey, Israel and Germany and weakest in Greece and Hungary, where hiring confidence continues to erode.
Across the Asia-Pacific region, job prospects remain solid but employers in six of eight countries and territories are expecting to ease hiring compared to three months ago, most notably in Singapore. Compared to last year at this time, employers in six countries and territories say they will slow the pace of hiring, with the forecast in China weakening considerably. Hiring plans in Japan remain the least robust in the region, but the outlook improves slightly from the previous quarter and 12 months ago.
Across the 10 countries Manpower surveys in the Americas, employer hiring plans remain positive in all countries, with Net Employment Outlooks remaining relatively stable or improving in six of the 10 countries in comparison to the fourth quarter 2011. The year-on-year comparison is split, with outlooks strengthening or weakening five countries. Regional hiring expectations are strongest in Brazil and weakest in the U.S., where employers expect slightly more hiring activity in the next three months.
About the Survey
An innovative workforce solutions company, ManpowerGroup releases the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter. It is the world’s most extensive, forward-looking employment survey, polling nearly 65,000 employers in 41 countries and territories. The survey is one of the most respected independent data sources to determine where the labour market is headed.
The next Manpower Employment Outlook Survey will be released on 13 March 2012 to report hiring expectations for the second quarter of 2012. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is available free of charge to the public through their local Manpower representative in participating countries.
Experis India 