The hiring expectations of employers have dropped for the first time in nine quarters, although the job market remains buoyant, a global human resources consultancy survey has found.
Hudson Global Resources said 61 per cent of 600 executives interviewed in the poll planned to hire more staff in the third quarter of this year, compared with 69 per cent in the previous quarter.
'This is the first quarter in which expectations have fallen since the second quarter of 2009, when the city was hit by the financial crisis. But then a levelling-off was anticipated after a long period of strong growth.' said James Carss, executive general manager at Hudson.
The survey covered key business sectors including the legal, consumer, banking and finance, and media sectors.
Despite the drop, Carss said hiring expectations remained at a healthy level that was still close to the figures seen between the start of 2006 and mid-2008, when the economy was generally regarded as very good.
Asked if the dip in expectations hinted at less hiring in the future, Carss said: 'I am not an economist and I cannot predict that.'
Carss said it should be understood that the latest figures might be a result of seasonal factors, as hiring expectations usually peaked around the second quarter of the year and slowed down during the third quarter, when many executives took summer holidays.