South Africans were likely to benefit from a positive, but conservative hiring pace in the fourth quarter of this year, with hiring intentions showing little change from the previous quarter, according to the ‘Manpower Employment Outlook Survey’ released on Tuesday.

Manpower South Africa MD Peter Winn said overall, the survey indicated that hiring intentions would remain positive during the fourth quarter.

With seasonal variations removed from the data, the net employment outlook stood at +3%; however, year-over-year the outlook declined by 4 percentage points.

“Our net employment outlook has remained at +3% for four consecutive quarters, and we’re not seeing anything in the marketplace that indicates the trend will change soon,” said Winn.

The survey showed that 9% of employers were expecting employee levels to increase, 7% forecast a decrease and 83% expected no change to the workforce.

Employers in Gauteng are the most confident about adding to their workforce in the next three months, although the outlook stands at a modest +5%.

Employers in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape forecast some payroll gains, although outlooks in both regions stand at +3%.

When compared with the same quarter in 2010, employers in four of the five regions report weaker hiring intentions.

The residual effects of the 2009 global recession and the conclusion of the 2010 FIFA Wold Cup continued to dampen employer confidence.

Coupled with this, said Winn, was the general uncertainly in various sectors, including wholesale, retail, municipal, mining and energy, as well as national strikes by South African unions.

However, employers in eight of the ten industry sectors indicate the pace of hiring would be positive during the quarter.

But, Winn said: “We’re simply not seeing signs of the employer confidence necessary to establish some real traction in the marketplace. Instead, the hiring pace weakens by varying degrees in six of ten sectors quarter-over-quarter and in nine of ten sectors year-over-year.”

“The good news is that with eight in ten employers stating that they will make no changes to their staff, we should see an element of stability through the end of the year.”

The wholesale and retail trade sector employers report a “cautiously optimistic” outlook of +9%, and some job gains are expected in both the mining and quarrying sectors.

The transport, storage and communication sectors outlook stand at +8%.

Meanwhile, employers in the manufacturing and construction sectors report a negative hiring pace through the end of the year.

Winn said with large international firms buying into local companies, such as Massmart, and plans for intensified government job creation programmes, there “might” be an upturn in employer confidence for 2012.

Meanwhile, employers in India and China, South Africa’s partners in the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping of countries, expected to slow hiring from three months ago.

Employers in Brazil, as well as Taiwan, reported the strongest hiring plans globally and would continue with their robust hiring pace.

In the US, employers expected to continue their cautious hiring approach through the end of the year.

Net employment outlooks soften from the third quarter in 21 of 39 countries and territories, and remain in positive territory in 36 countries and territories - stronger than they were last year at this time in the majority of countries, Manpower Group said.

“The spark of optimism seen in the global labour market last quarter did not take hold, as employers in the majority of countries we research are now throttling their hiring needs.

“Companies across the world are now more agile and quick to adjust to macro threats and decreased demand in their own businesses, giving employers a hyperactive index finger when it comes to hitting the start/stop button on hiring,” Manpower Group CEO and chairperson Jeffrey Joerres said.