Industrial job postings increased across all subsectors in the first quarter compared to the seasonally weak fourth quarter, according to the Q1 2017 Global Industrial Hiring Index released by executive search firm ZRG Partners. The index posted a strong 21% increase in global hiring demand quarter over quarter. However, the index showed a 9% year-over-year decrease when compared to the first quarter of 2016.

Findings indicate the employment market is strong across all subsectors within industrial space, with the exception of oil and gas, where hiring has risen slightly but remains at a low level.

Engineering, procurement and construction, oil and gas, heavy equipment and automotive posted the largest increase in job postings on a percentage basis compared to the fourth quarter. Aerospace, EPC, and oil and gas were up compared to last year’s first and fourth quarters.

Oil and gas continues to have a small number of job postings relative to the overall size of the industry. Diversified manufacturing has also been weaker on a relative basis versus the other subsectors on both a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis.

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.