Manpower sees signs of 'v' recovery

Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and CEO, said in an interview last week that Asia is showing clear signs of recovery, which is likely to take a "V" shape.

"There're some who say be careful, it could be a 'W' shaped recovery [as the government stimulus runs out and then you've got a chance to go back down again]," he said. "That's for the big-branded economists to try to do theories on. But if we look at what we see today, this looks like and feels like it could be a V-shaped recovery."

However, he is much less optimistic about the economic and job prospects in Western countries like the UK, Germany and the US due to their structural problems.

These markets would likely be the last to come out of the crisis.

Manpower expects its job placements to shrink 25 per cent this year, from 4.1 million positions last year when it posted US$22 billion (Bt760 billion) in revenues.

Thailand and Mexico are expected to be the only two markets out of a total 82 countries and territories where Manpower will likely avoid a down year, he said.

Simon Matthews, country manager of Manpower Thailand, said manufacturers including automobile and electronics companies had returned to hiring, boosting job placement orders by 40-50 per cent so far this year. Manpower generates 74 per cent of its business from Europe and only 8 per cent from Asia, but it hopes to gain from the next wave of growth in Asia to generate about $1 billion in fresh revenue.

In Thailand, job placement requests started to soar in June and July, after staying flat last year and earlier this year.

A recent National Statistical Office survey showed unemployment at 1.7 per cent in May, up 0.2 percentage point from the same month of last year.

However, compared to the previous month, unemployed workers decreased by 160,000 people to a total of 660,000.

Kongkiat Teekamongkol, managing director of Goodyear (Thailand), said the auto tyre industry is picking up steadily on new orders from India and China.