While cooling this quarter, global demand for talent remains resilient and the race for skills continues, according to the newly released Q2 ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) Employment Outlook Survey of more than 38,000 employers in 41 countries and territories.

An indicator of economic and labor market trends, the Net Employment Outlook – calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate reductions to staffing levels from those who plan to hire – now stands at +30% in the U.S., up 1% from last quarter and down 5% from this time last year.

The overall hiring expectations in North America are the highest of all world regions. This aligns with a U.S. unemployment rate that is currently the lowest since 1969. All industries and sectors indicate hiring more people in the first quarter. Organizations in the IT industry report optimistic Outlook (+34%), followed by Communication Services (+30%), and Financials & Real Estate (+29).

The global talent shortage continues to grow in Q2, with 78% of employers in IT reporting challenges hiring - suggesting workers who have found themselves laid off in recent reductions will soon be reabsorbed into the market.

"This labor market continues to defy signs of economic gravity with another robust hiring Outlook for the quarter ahead," said Becky Frankiewicz, ManpowerGroup, North America, President and Chief Commercial Officer. "Employers are still impacted by Pandemic Paranoia – they remember how long it took to bring workers back and are holding onto and hiring business critical talent. We're still seeing concentration of demand in our real-time data, and this survey reflects concentration too, with IT leading the way in hiring plans despite layoffs dominating the headlines. Workers with in-demand tech and soft skills will find themselves in high demand and the need to re-skill today for tomorrow's jobs remains urgent as talent shortages grow."

NORTH AMERICA KEY FINDINGS

Employers in the U.S. (+30%) report a moderate increase (+1) in their Outlooks comparted to last quarter.
In contrast, employers in Canada (+26%) report a decrease (-6%).
While Outlooks in Puerto Rico (+26%) remain unchanged.
Both the U.S. and Canada expect hiring to be weaker compared to intentions year-over-year, -5 and -10 percentage points, respectively.
GLOBAL KEY FINDINGS

Employers across all 41 countries report net positive hiring intentions with Outlooks ranging from 2% to 41%.
Regionally, the brightest hiring intentions for next quarter are in North America (+30%), with the greatest expectations in Panama (+41%), Costa Rica (+38%) and Guatemala (+38%).
Organizations in the IT industry report the most optimistic Outlook (+34%), followed by Communication Services (+30%), and Financials & Real Estate (+29%).
The most significant net increases when compared to Q1 are reported by employers in the Czech Republic and the Communication Services industry, respectively increasing 14% and 11% since last quarter.
To view complete results for the Q2 ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, visit https://go.manpowergroup.com/meos. The next survey will be released in June and will report hiring expectations for the third quarter of the year.