Companies likely to boost hiring, shows survey

ISTANBUL

Turkish companies are likely to increase hiring in the second quarter of 2024, according to a survey by ManpowerGroup.

The Net Employment Outlook (NEO) — calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate reductions to staffing levels from those who plan to hire — now stands at 14 percent for Türkiye, said ManpowerGroup’s employment outlook report for the second quarter.

But the NEO for Türkiye declined by 10 percent year-on-year, showed the survey.

Some 38 percent of Turkish companies expect an increase in the number of employees in the second quarter, while 26 percent said they anticipate a decline in headcounts.

Businesses in the Information Technology (IT) industry reported the strongest outlook, followed by finance and real estate and industry. The NEOs for the IT, finance and industry were 39 percent, 26 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Some 76 percent of Turkish IT companies surveyed report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need. Around 69 percent of finance and real estate employers reported a similar problem, while the corresponding rate for industry employers was 76 percent.

The unemployment rate in Türkiye inched up from 8.9 percent in January to 9.1 percent in February, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

The number of unemployed people increased by 85,000 to 3.21 million, while the labor participation rate improved from 53.6 percent to 53.9 percent.

ManpowerGroup’s report also showed that the global NEO stood at 22 percent, with 41 percent of the employers anticipating an increase in hiring.

Global outlooks have weakened by 4 percent since the previous quarter and are down 2 percent when compared to the same period last year, said the report.