The Manpower Employment Outlook survey of 34 countries for the third quarter shows India at No. 1 with an overall Net Employment Outlook of 19 per cent followed by Norway and Poland.

However, this is still the lowest-ever outlook for India since 2005 but it is substantially better than three per cent in China and -2 per cent in United States of America.

Sectorwise public administration and education register the best outlook. Manufacturing, trade and mining may also see improved hiring.

Highlights of Manpower Employment Outlook Survey (MEOS) Q3 2009

• Of 34 countries surveyed, India ranks no. 1 with overall Net Employment Outlook of +19 per cent. MEOS findings reveal that the most favourable third-quarter hiring plans globally after India are reported by employers in Norway and Poland.

• This is the lowest ever Outlook for India since 2005, when MEOS was launched in India. However, this Outlook is substantially better than 3 per cent in China, -2 per cent in US and -6 per cent in the UK.

• Hiring is expected to be positive in only 11 out of the 34 countries and territories surveyed globally with the lowest outlook in Ireland, Romania & Greece.

• India's net employment outlook fell from 25 per cent in the second quarter to 19 per cent in third. This is much lower than 43 per cent recorded for the Quarter 3 of 2008.

• Employers in South are the most optimistic with a Net Employment Outlook of +41 per cent, which is an improvement of 17 percentage point over the previous quarter in that region.

• Employers in the North and the West, report the weakest Outlooks of +13 per cent; in the third quarter compared to 23 per cent and 24 per cent reported is the previous quarter respectively.

• Comparison with the third quarter of 2008 reveal that employers in all the regions reported decline in Outlook with North and West regions registering a fall of 39 and 30 percentage points respectively.

• The public administration and education sector registered the best outlook at 33 per cent while finance, insurance and real-estate sector was the least optimistic at 11 per cent.

• All the sectors reported a negative year-on-year change in outlook except the public administration and education sector which registered an increase of 8 percentage points due to the government's initiatives.

• However, the employment situation has become better since April when the survey was conducted. Sectors like manufacturing, trade (wholesale and retail) and mining sectors may see improved hiring in as the macroeconomic environment becomes better in India.