Company directors and employees have vastly different views on the prospects of the job market, two surveys show.
A survey of 300 multinational company directors found the number of permanent job vacancies was poised to increase for the January-March quarter, while another survey found most employees expected the jobless rate to soar.
Job agency Morgan & Banks found 25.2 per cent of directors expected to increase staff numbers, with only 17.4 per cent expecting otherwise.
More than 30 per cent said they would maintain current staff levels and close to 66 per cent said they would retain 70 per cent of employees.
In a separate survey of 589 employees, 68 per cent expected unemployment to increase this year, rising from 64 per cent the previous year.
Marketing Decision Research conducted the survey for the Gallup International End-of-Year Poll last month.