Though hiring expectations in China (11 percent) and Brazil (8 percent) have slowed, 36 percent of employers in the United States plan to hire full-time, permanent employees this year.* In fact, the U.S. survey reveals the best employment outlook since 2006. France’s hiring is also the best it has been since 2006.

India Leads The 42 Countries Surveyed
The United States and France are not alone. In India, almost half (46 percent) of employers expect to hire. Worldwide, more than one-third of employers in the 42 countries Manpower surveyed expect to add full-time, permanent employees this year, including Mexico at 12 percent. Salary increases – including raises for minimum wage workers – are also expected.

Labor Markets Tightening Further
In the U.S., the number of companies planning to hire in 2015 is up 12 percentage points over last year, setting the stage for a much more competitive environment for recruiters. Hiring in 2014 was broad-based, including encouraging activity among small businesses and hard-hit sectors like manufacturing and construction. This year, the percentages of employers hiring full-time, permanent employees in Information Technology (54 percent), Financial Services (42 percent), Manufacturing (41 percent) and Health Care (38 percent) are expected to outperform the national average.

Hot Areas/Functions For Hiring
Not surprisingly, hiring for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) occupations will continue to be strong with 31 percent of hiring managers planning to create jobs in these areas over the next 12 months, up from 26 percent last year.

Looking at specific functions within an organization, positions tied to revenue growth, innovation and customer loyalty will dominate. The most popular functional areas will be:
1. Sales – 36 percent
2. Customer Service – 33 percent
3. Information Technology – 26 percent
4. Production – 26 percent
5. Administrative – 22 percent.

Emerging IT/Engineering fields like Cloud, Mobile, Search Technology, Robotics and Cyber Security also will see robust growth

What’s Next?
While these findings are great news for employees and candidates, they are not so great for employers. Finding good qualified people will become increasingly difficult. Expect new companies to emerge to help employers target working talent who might be looking. At the same time, once targeted, expect employers to go to greater lengths to court talented individuals with extra pre-employment services, like career coaching and other perks, that will pre-bond the candidates to them. If they are to be successful, employers will have no choice, but to positively differentiate themselves. That success will be a matter of survival.

* The first two percentages were from The Annual Manpower Employment Outlook Survey 2015 and the U.S. number is from CareerBuilder’s recently released Annual Forecast.

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