Taiwanese employers are not likely to hire many people in the third quarter amid lingering concerns over the economic affects of COVID-19, according to the latest survey by human resources advisory firm ManpowerGroup.

Taiwan's net hiring outlook index for the July-September period was 3 percent, down 20 percentage points from a quarter earlier and also down 18 percentage points from a year earlier, the survey found.

The survey, which reflects hiring confidence among employers, calculates its net hiring index after seasonal adjustments by subtracting the percentage of employers anticipating a decline in the size of their workforce from the percentage expecting an increase.

ManpowerGroup said about 16 percent of the 1,061 employers in the poll expected an increase in employee numbers in the third quarter while 9 percent anticipated a decrease, and about 72 percent expected the size of their workforce to remain the same.

After seasonal adjustments, the difference became 3 percent, the lowest level in Taiwan since it was badly hurt by the global financial crisis in 2009, ManpowerGroup said.

Among the seven economies in the region, Taiwan lagged behind India (5 percent) and Japan (11 percent), was tied with China, and was ahead of Hong Kong (zero percent), Australia (minus 12 percent) and Singapore (minus 28) in the third quarter.

Of Taiwan's major industries, the engineering and construction sector had the highest net hiring index of 24 percent for the third quarter, but that was 14 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter and the lowest level in the past four quarters, the survey found.

The financial/insurance/real estate industry had the second highest net hiring index with 11 percent, ahead of the wholesale/retail sector (9 percent), the manufacturing sector (7 percent) and the service sector (5 percent), according to the survey.

ManpowerGroup said large-sized companies in Taiwan with workforces of more than 250 people showed a 2 percent net hiring index for the third quarter, the lowest since 2011, while the net hiring index for employers with workforces of below 50 people and between 50 and 249 people was 6 percent.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan