Global employer hiring intentions continued to moderate, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for the second quarter.

The net employment outlook for global hiring stands at +22% for the second quarter; that’s down from +26% in the previous report, which looked ahead for the first quarter. It’s also down from +30% in the fourth quarter report.

Net employment outlook calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers that anticipate reductions in staffing levels from those that plan to hire.

“After years of the post-pandemic economy clicking along at breakneck speed, a cooldown was inevitable,” said ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jonas Prising. “Still, demand remains strong for skilled talent. Given the global talent shortage, we expect hiring managers to get creative in this climate, whether it’s upskilling current staff or through more targeted recruitment, as businesses gauge conditions over the coming months.”

The strongest net employment outlook level is anticipated in North America, +31%. It was followed by Asia Pacific, +27%; Central and South America, +19%; and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, +15%.

By country, the strongest net employment outlook levels are reported in India, +36%; the US, +34%; and China, Costa Rica and the Netherlands, each at +32%.

The weakest net employment outlooks were in Romania, -2%; Israel, -1%; and Argentina, +1%.

In Canada, the net employment outlook was +22%.

Further research

Further research in ManpowerGroup’s report found that 46% of employers say they are on track to reach their gender equity targets. The report also found that employers expect most of the progress on gender equality to happen in the next two years. However, 38% of employers expect gender equality to be fully achieved in their organization; this is compared to 24% of organizations where gender equality is already fully achieved. The majority of employers, 61%, said their organization continues to invest in and grow their diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging programs and initiatives.

Meanwhile, 37% of companies say that flexible working has helped them to retain talent and expand their candidate pool to be more diverse.