Turkish employers among globe’s most optimistic, survey reveals

More than 1,000 interviews were conducted with employers in Turkey as part of an employment outlook survey for the third quarter of this year conducted by the ManpowerGroup. The survey has revealed that Turkish employers were among the most optimistic five countries, along with India, Taiwan, Brazil and Singapore. The survey interviewed 65,000 employers from 41 countries and territories.

Participants were asked, “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of September as compared to the current quarter?” Among Turkish employers surveyed, 34 percent expect to add to their workforces during this third quarter. Fifty-four percent of employers anticipate making no change to staff levels in the third quarter’s hiring plans. ManpowerGroup East Mediterranean Region Manager Dalia Narkis says as many as 27 percent of job seekers in Turkey have an opportunity to find a job in the coming quarter, given the current positive employment atmosphere. “Government promises to increase employment in education dramatically along with some new incentives.”

When looking at the EMEA region as a whole, he continued, employment opportunities for the upcoming period are weak due to uncertainties in markets following the European sovereign debt crisis and growing unemployment, particularly among young people. The ManpowerGroup survey studied employment opportunities for Turkey in five separate regions, namely Marmara, Central Anatolia, the Aegean, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The strongest expectation for the creation of new jobs for the next quarter among regions was seen in Central Anatolia with 34 percent. Marmara follows with 28 percent. For the third quarter of this year, Turkish employers have a positive outlook in all of the 11 industry sectors included in the survey. The sector expected to enjoy the best recovery in employment is construction, with 35 percent. The construction sector has been one of the pillars of Turkey’s economic bounce over the past decade. When compared to the previous quarter, 4 sectors out of 11 are expected to see increased employment in the third quarter, while seven are expected to suffer drops.

The sector with the greatest decline anticipated in employment was the manufacturing industry in Turkey. Among the 41 countries and regions where the survey was conducted, those with the worst expectations came, unsurprisingly, from the EU. A lingering financial bottleneck seems to have cast a shadow on employers’ anticipations in Europe. Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Hungary are the five countries where job providers uttered the most pessimistic expectations for job growth in the coming quarter. Thirty-three out of 41 countries were optimistic for new jobs in the coming period.

Turkish unemployment continued its stable growth in the second month of the year, jumping to 10.4 percent in February from 10.2 percent in the preceding month. According to many, this figure reflects a slowdown in Turkey’s economic growth. Non-agricultural employment -- a critical gauge in the employment market -- reached 12.7 percent in the second month of the year. On a yearly basis, the picture looks a little rosier. The unemployment rate in Turkey in February dropped 1.1 points over the same month a year earlier to 10.4 percent. The number of people who worked without being registered with the Social Security Institution (SGK) declined to 37.5 percent with a 3.5 percent decline from February of last year.