Industrial hiring decreased slightly across all sectors in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, according to the 2016 Global Industrial Hiring Index for the second quarter released today by executive search firm ZRG Partners. However, the report found hiring still rose 12% year over year.

The index indicated a 15% decrease in global hiring demand quarter-over-quarter; however, the job postings remain strong despite the decrease, with the index recording its second-highest level of job postings ever.

The aerospace and defense and heavy equipment industrial sectors showed the smallest decrease compared to first-quarter hiring, with both subsectors down less than 3%. Chemicals was the weakest subsector quarter over quarter, with job postings down more than 30%.

“There is still enough uncertainty globally across the industrial sector that the weaker Q2 numbers come as very little surprise,” said Nate Frank, managing director, industrial practice. “That said we are seeing good pockets of hiring in certain functions and leadership positions, and that may be reflected by the fact that index is well ahead of the Q2 numbers from both 2014 and 2015. The demand for scalable P&L leaders as well as globally minded operations and supply chain leaders continues to be fairly robust.”

The Global Industrial Hiring Index analysis utilizes a proprietary algorithm that looks at hiring within selected benchmark companies in seven distinct segments. ZRG Partners collaborates with data from the CEB TalentNeuron tool and Pitchbook to assemble the sector data that drives the index.